


Old Habits

by bluemelanie



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 18:19:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 34,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11407929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemelanie/pseuds/bluemelanie
Summary: You quite enjoy your life as an ordinary woman in the 19th century, though there are a lot of downsides - you still think it is a better life than the life you lived as an Assassin. There's news of London being liberated, and you have been helping, from the shadows to collect intel. Of course everything changes when you meet the leader of the Rooks.





	1. Compromised

**Author's Note:**

> **This is RE-UPLOADED and tweaked.**
> 
> Lol so guess who accidentally deleted their AO3? Anyway I've changed **minor** things, the only real difference is the epilogue and I cut some stuff too. Again, un-beta'd so there's going to be typos, sorry.

You make a disgruntled sound as a man, in an un-gentleman like manner, shoves past you at a hasty speed across the park. You bite the inside of your cheek so you do not let the anger get the best of you, after all you are a lady. Flicking out your wrist you open up your delicate hand fan and lightly fan the heat rising in your cheeks, trying not to think how easy it would be to chase after the crude man.

You have distracted yourself from why you came to this park in the first place, you were supposed to be keeping an eye out for a meeting between two Templar authorities, the two in charge of the remaining Templar strongholds in Southwark. You scan the area for red coats, slowly wandering around the park keeping hidden behind your hand held fan. Sighing, you realise you cannot cover this much ground by just glancing, so you do what you swore you would never, use your Eagle Vision. You gave up the Assassin life for a reason, but you had to admit the brotherhood did have its tricks - though some would consider your talents a waste now that you had left the brotherhood, many Assassins would do anything to have your rare Eagle Vision. Regardless, you quickly locate a large amount of Blighters and Templars in the western corner of the park, and you nonchalantly make your way over ensuring to keep your distance to be safe. Not that they would have any reason to be suspicious of you, you were merely a woman out for a stroll on a beautiful clear day, donning on your favourite summer dress. Sometimes you missed being allowed to wear pants like you did in the brotherhood, the ability to breathe without such constraints really was a privilege. You find a park bench close enough to eavesdrop on your two main targets, you set your bag next to you, exchanging your fan for a book and opened it to a random page and pretended to read.

"D'you come here unfollowed?" the first Templar leader jabbed at the other.

The other scoffed, clearly insulted, "Yes, because unlike a certain someone I know how to be discrete." The other growled, "Now, now I do not have time for this." His voice suddenly quietened, you had to strain to hear the words, "did the shipments arrive?"

"Yes, Parse, at 10am on the dot. I have my men transporting multiple carts to one of Starrick's factories in Whitechapel."

"That's Mr. Parse to you." he took in a sharp intake of breath before continuing, "Mhm. Very good Mr. Donnavin. I shall report the news to Miss. Thorne herself, she will be very pleased to know those hallucinogenic smoke bombs have arrived," he made a noise of disgust, "the Blighters in Lambeth have lost yet another stronghold."

You smirked at that, for a long time you had nosied your way into things, giving valuable information to those so called Rooks, and together you had planned the perfect ambush, all you had to do was lure your target away and slit his throat. Though it was a damn shame you got blood on your favourite blue dress.

"I best be on me way, I have to make sure the rest of the cargo make it to them factories." Mr. Donnavin spat on the ground before walking back to his carriage, with four of his henchmen trailing behind.

"How uncivilised" Mr. Parse exasperated before turning in the opposite direction with his men.

Sighing, you knew what had to be done so you packed your things, quickly weaving in and out of the crowds of the park. You had to tail Mr. Donnavin, and fast. You got onto the street to see Mr. Donnavin's carriage about to disappear behind a corner. Biting your lip you had to decide, you could be a lady about this or you could be your former assassin self. Shaking your head, you decided you go with the proper lady route - the assassin life was not one you wanted. You pulled your fan out again, rapidly fanning yourself has though you might faint and approached the nearest carriage with a driver, "Sir, I do beg your pardon, but that man," you point to Mr. Donnavin's carriage as it rounds the corner, "has just robbed me of my mother's jewels! Please have pity, I cannot have them lost to some insubordinate thief!"

Seeing your distress, the driver obliged, "yes of course Miss. However, we must be quick, my master is expected to be back in an hour!"

"Oh, than you so kindly Sir!" You threw yourself into the empty carriage as the horses lurched off to a quick trot. Luckily for you, Mr. Donnavin was not driving like a madman like most blighters do, clearly he was not to draw attention to himself. There were one or two carriages separating you from your target, the driver had no space to overtake, which for you was fine, you wanted to be discrete.

"Miss I am afraid I cannot catch up!"

You poked your head out the window, looking up at the driver, "no need, but please do trail him I plan to confront him once he reaches his destination."

He gave you a quizzical look, "very well Miss."

After a few minutes of not letting your eye off your target, you see a factory where Mr. Donnavin pulls in to. Quickly you scream at the driver to halt, jumping out of the carriage before it comes to a complete stop.

"-but Miss!" You slap the side of the carriage you were just in, scaring the horse to spring forward and away from the scene.

"Thank you Mister." You mutter under your breath as you nonchalantly make your way across the street, standing by a brick wall just outside of the factory. You pear around the corner, no one is in sight, you risk it and sneak onto the property, clinging to the brick wall - though there does not appear to be any Blighter guards on duty anywhere - the stupidity of it all. _Though I guess I should be thankful for their ignorance, it makes it easier for me_ you thought to yourself as you snuck inside, sticking to the shadows. Rounding the wall, edging yourself into a dark corner of the factory you locate the docking area where most of the carts are being unloaded. You stick to the darkness of the wall, windows boarded up, so you can gather more information about the product. You are about to secure a safely hidden hiding spot where you can clearly hear the going-ons when something, or someone, lands atop of Mr. Donnavin.

"What the bloody 'eck! Who are yo-" his sentence is cut short as he is stabbed in the neck by the mystery figure.

You grit your teeth, cursing under your breath as chaos ensures around you. The man laughs a throaty laugh as he launches himself into the fight. Well there was no point in staying now, but as much as you wanted to leave you also wanted to make sure this mystery man actually destroyed these smoke bombs - not that you are going to know anything about them now: is this their last shipment? How many is Starrick planning on importing? Is it just a trial run? Anger washes through you as you look at the man fighting, he has picked off the most of them as is left with the remaining brutes of the bunch. This imbecile compromised your mission. Dropping your bag you tighten your grip on your closed parasol, stalking towards one of the brutes closet to you as you press the hidden button on the handle, the hidden blade at the end spring forth just in time to slice the brute's back open, shocking him as he turns around you connect the handle with his nose and while he stumbles you slit his throat with the blade. He falls to the ground in a load thump, causing the mystery man to draw his attention to you as he kills off the last blighter.

"Well, well Miss, I do say you do not look like the fighting type." His voice sounded cocky, you could see a smirk underneath his Assassin hood.

You groan loudly, "you dumb, stupid Assassin, of course you're a fucking Assassin." The word puts a bitter taste in your mouth. You click your hidden blade back to place in your parasol, checking for any blood on the lace - luckily you saw none, for once. Turning your back to him, you grab your bag from your hiding spot.

"Well that definitely is not most lady like," the man chuckles as he comes closer to you, "and how do you know of my occupation?" He inquires in a rusty voice.

"You just compromised my mission. I was to gather intelligence about these shipments," you paused briefly before looking him, face still hidden - though you could see that, yes he did have a rather impressive jawline with scruffy stubble, "and now you must dispose of these shipments. All of them."

He folded his arms, clearly unimpressed, "Yes but darling," you sneered at the name, "I cannot just blow up every shipment Starrick receives, they could be useful." He turns towards the nearest box of shipments.

"Ha, well had you actually done your investigations like I have, you would know these boxes contain hallucinogenic smoke bombs, and I for one, say they are more of a dangerous inconvenient than of any aid. Dispose of them before they get into the wrong hands like those medicines once did." Your voice was stern, maybe a little too stern, but this man irked you like no other. You delicately placed your left hand over your right wrist in front of yourself, in a very ladylike manner, waiting to gauge his reaction.

He lightly chuckled, a pleasant sound - though you would never admit it - and he turned towards you once more, taking off his hood so you could see his face. You held back a gasp, he was not as you expected, because well, he was attractive. His two scars cut into his facial hair, one on his right eyebrow, the other on his stubble on his left cheek; defining characteristics. His dark auburn hair was rather disheveled from his fights, and his beautiful hazel eyes bore into yours. "Well I must thank you Miss...?"

You cleared your throat, hoping your cheeks were not pinking, "after what you have done Mister, I am afraid I shall not give you my name, I do not find you deserving enough." You said mater-of-factly.

"Ouch," he mocked hurt, clutching his heart dramatically, "how you wound me."

You rolled your eyes at that. "Once I have seen you have had these shipments dealt with I shall depart in the hopes of never running into you again."

"Then let's make it a helluva spectacle." He smirked as he approached you, "Miss do step back, I would hate for any shrapnel to hit your lovely face." To your disgust, he lightly places his hand on your right arm, above the handle of your bag, tugging you backwards what he thought a safe distance. Aiming his gun he shot at three of the boxes, and surely enough it caused a domino effect - all the boxes being sent ablaze.

"Hpmh. Well done Mister, I shall be on my way." You curtsied at him, glancing up at him one last time.

"Frye. My name is Jacob Frye."

You scrunched up your nose, you had heard that name before... "Leader of the Rooks!" you gasped, "I cannot believe an Assassin is leading the liberation of London," you said in disgust. "As I said, good day to you Mr. Frye. I hope our paths do not cross again." And with that you turned and left the scene, hoping he would not trail you. Checking behind yourself, using your Eagle Vision to see on the rooftops you noted that you were unfollowed on your way home.


	2. Running Ins

"Ugh," you let your head thud against the door behind you. What on earth were you thinking? You killed yet another blighter, the whole point of leaving the brotherhood was to stop the relentless murder. Your job now was to gather information and report back to Abberline or Green, not taking matters into your own hands instead.

You toss your items to the floor, no longer caring about them. It was getting late and you had yet to make supper. Making your way over to your rather small kitchen, you pull all the pins from your hair letting it tumble out across your shoulders, perhaps if you put your mind to it you could forget the whole thing and relax. Putting all your anger into mashing your potatoes did help, but there's only so many potatoes you can mash for one person before it is considered ridiculous. 

****

You stood by the door of your classroom, waiting for your young students to quietly file in. Being a teacher is the last thing you thought you would ever do, though given your limited choices as a woman it was one of the more respectable roles. You had the younger students, aged five to six and most of the time they were not much of a handful. Teaching all day had kept your mind off the previous day's event, that was until you noticed the bruises littering along Archie Robinson's left arm, he was your shyest student who had spoken about two words to you.

"Archie dearest," you called from your desk, the boy looked up sheepishly at you, "would you mind talking to me now outside of the classroom?" You tried to keep a light tone, "I promise to leave my ruler in my desk draw, you are not in any trouble." The boy slowly rose, keeping his eyes trained to the floor as he walked out the door. "I want no trouble from the rest of you, I would hate to get that dreadful ruler out again." The class immediately understood, so you felt it safe enough to leave them alone for a minute or so as you went to talk to Archie outside the door.

You softly closed the door behind you, noting that Archie was still staring at the floor, "Archie, do beg my pardon, but do you care to explain why your arm has as many bruises as it does?" You knelt down beside him, gently placing a hand on his left shoulder, which he shook off immediately.

"No Miss [L/N]," he sniffed, "must'a just happened when I was playin' outside." He still avoided looking at you.

You sighed, "Archie I was once a child, the amount of bruising I can see is not from sheer play." You briefly paused, "you know I would never tell anyone. I swear it." You crossed your hand over your heart.

He looked up at you from the corner of your eye, "you swear it, Miss [L/N]?" You nodded. There was a long pause before he spoke again, "it was my fault, I was playing in my father's office and messed up his files. He was mad because I ruined his meeting with his Temple workers." He wiped his nose with the back of his hand, sniffing again.

"Temple? Do you mean Templar?" You asked in a hushed tone.

"Tha's wha' I said, innit?"

"Oh Archie, I am so sorry this happened, did you tell your mama?"

"Yes, and she said it was my fault. Mama is never wrong Miss." He avoided your gaze again.

You sighed, "Archie no parent should do this to their child, if this happens again you tell me alright?" You smiled at him, giving him a hug whether he liked it or not.

"Yes Miss, thank you Miss [L/N]."

You stood up, "alright, time to get back into class. I do hope they have behaved themselves."

**

You sat at your desk, going through the children's work, it was getting dark very soon. You were refilling the ink for your fountain pen when you heard a knock at your classroom door.

"Miss [L/N], are you still there?" Came the voice of the Headmaster, Mr. Kirkham, he entered the room, standing idly by the door.

You sighed, "yes I am afraid so. These children worked to their full extent today and as a result I have a lot to sift through."

He laughed loudly, "Miss [L/N] I do not think these younglings can produce such works to keep you occupied for so long, they are full of utter nonsense."

You frowned at that, "and yet, Mr. Kirkham, here I am still going through their work. That must say something about my intelligence if that is what you are implying."

He looked taken aback, "oh no, not at all," he sighed, "I am heading home now to my wife, please ensure everything is locked up before you depart. Goodnight Miss [L/N]."

"Goodnight Mr. Kirkham."

You kept your ears sharp, listening for his carriage to take off down the street. Once you were sure you were alone, you put away all the paperwork, grabbed your bag and the oil lamp and headed down to the administrative offices. There was a very cold draft coming down the dark hallway, making a terrible sound as it past from one end to the other - it was very eery and the creaking floorboards did not help.

In no time at all you reached the door to the offices, locked of course. For you this was merely an inconvenience in your plans. Setting your bag and the dimly lit oil lamp to the floor near the door, you knelt down to pick at the door lock, and after a few minutes you heard the distinct click of the door opening. Satisfied with yourself, you picked up your belongings and headed to the filing drawers in the back of the room, ordered by surname you started looking for 'Robinson.' There were only two Robinsons at the school so it was very easy to find Archie's folder. Sitting at the nearest desk you pulled out a fountain pen and a piece of paper, scribbling down Archie's details; his parents' names and their address. You put everything back into its place, leaving the office as if you had never been in there before, you went the long way out ensuring to put the oil lamp back into your classroom before you exited through the main doors, locking up.

You noticed it was raining, unsurprisingly, but you were lucky to have brought your umbrella today. It was dark, oil lamps dimly lighting up the streets. You could either walk home, or you could walk to Archie's house - since the school was rather central in The Strand, either option wasn't too far a carriage ride. You decided to walk to the direction of Archie's house, hopefully a bus carriage would pull up on the way, but your long skirts were already dirty and wet at this point so it hardly mattered.

You ended up walking the whole way, properly wet now and admittedly, a little cold. No matter, you were going to go through with this regardless of how daft you appeared to look. You raised your hand to the giant wooden door when you noticed something on the rooftops in your peripheral vision. 'Unbelievable,' you muttered under your breath. Quickly you scanned for something to lob at the man on the rooftop, scanning the puddles you found a decent sized rock and even with your cotton gloves on you picked up the slimy thing and threw it with all your strength at your target.

"Ow!" You saw the silhouetted man rub the back of his neck, he turned in his perched position to see the culprit: you. Soundlessly he mounted off the roof and joined you under the the oil lamp. "First you tell me to bugger off and then you're lobbing rocks at my head," he said in a joking tone.

You tried not to smile back at him, "Mr. Frye I simply saw that you were going to ruin yet another one of my missions and I could not have it. So I did what was required, drastic measures or not."

"Drastic." He paused, "so how come if you have these missions no one has informed my sister or I?"

You tilted your umbrella so it covered more of your face, "because this is not an assassin mission."

He scoffed, "Templars are the business of the Assassins - you still never told me how much you know or who you are." The rain kept trickling off his hood in front of his face, making it easier to avoid eye contact.

"Yes, but I am simply trying to stop things before they get disastrous enough to get the attention of the Assassins. Collecting more information is never a bad idea Mr. Frye," you said the last part rather smugly.

"Yes, but what good is information if everyone is dead."

You were floored at what to say to that.

"However, you may be right. I was not here at the Robinson estate tonight to assassinate Mr. Robinson, I was here to do Evie's job of snooping before she suddenly had to run off with Greenie on some other leads for the Piece of Eden." He was smiling his crooked smile again. "I guess if I let you do my job for me I can go to the pub."

Composing yourself once more, you spoke in an even tone, "no because that would mean I would have to report back to you and I was serious when I said I did not want our paths to cross again."

His face fell a bit at that, "oh surely I am not that repulsive," he lifted both arms in mock surrender, "but if I am you could always pass the news onto a Rook then onto me."

You sighed, "I have a feeling this will not be the last time we meet. So I will reluctantly work with you on this one."

He smiled his white teeth at you once more, "excellent choice Miss."

"Do not make me regret it."

"I will stay on the premises, hidden, just in case things ago awry - you can never be too certain."

You chuckled, "why Mr. Frye are you insinuating that I cannot take care of myself?"

He huffed at your response, "Lord, no - if that umbrella has the same mechanism as your parasol I have faith you will come out of it unscathed."

You allowed a small smile at that, "very well, stay if you must but I do not know how long this will take," sarcastically you added, "I would hate for you to be bored."

He shrugged, "you get used to it. I shall be on a rooftop, should you need me I am sure there are more rocks you can lob at me."

Before he could leave you grabbed his left arm, "wait!" He turned to look at you, "Mr. Frye if we are to be working together - I feel you deserving enough to know my name at least," you paused, "it's Miss [F/N] [L/N]." You are, admitted, annoyed with yourself at how little restraint it took to end up working with this man, it seemed the Brotherhood was doomed to follow you no matter what life you choose.

You let go of his arm once you saw his grin grow to his eyes, "nice to meet you Miss [L/N]," and without a second glance he used what looked like some kind of rope launcher to the top of the roof and was out of your sights yet again.


	3. Keeping Up The Act

The rain had subsided into a light drizzle, so you pulled down your umbrella and approached the Robinson door once more, you knocked as loudly as you could muster. The door swung open and you were faced with the family's butler.

"Good evening Miss, what can I do for you?" He stood proudly with his hands behind his back in the proper butler etiquette.

You panicked, you had not planned for the butler to open the door which was rather stupid of you as that was expected in this part of London. "I hate to be of bother but my carriage has had one of its wheels damaged and I am stuck out here cold and wet. I simply ask that I could have a warm cup of tea while I wait for my repairs," you hoped you looked like a true damsel in distress.

He grunted, "I shall ask the man of the house. Wait outside," and with that he shut the door in your face.

You heard a chuckle from above, "not a word Fyre," you muttered under your breath.

The door opened and you saw who you assumed was Mrs. Robinson, "oh dear! You look absolutely dreadful - come! My husband and I will get the maid to fetch you warm blankets and some tea."

She ushered you inside, "thank you kindly Miss...?"

"Robinson," ah so you were correct, "come this way to the drawing room the fire there is already roaring."

"Mama who is at the door?" You heard Archie's voice from around the corner.

"Archie! Miss please do forgive my so-"

"Oh hello there Archie!" You rudely interrupted his mother to greet the small boy.

He gasped lightly, "oh hello Miss [L/N]. You look very wet."

"I am indeed, the weather was quite bad."

"Ah, so you are Archie's teacher, please do tell me how my boy is doing."

You had entered the drawing room, and were sat down on the love-seat closest to the fireplace, a maid came over to drape a blanket over your shoulders and set a tray of tea cups and tea pots on the table in front of you. Archie was sent to his room so you had no other choice but to humour his mother and talk about his successes. Shortly, Mr. Robinson entered the drawing room, "excuse me Miss. [L/N] but I am afraid I must steal my wife from you for a bit. A do hope your carriage is repaired soon." His voice was anything but genuine.

As Mrs. Robinson left the room you noted Mr. Robinson leaning close to whisper into the butler's ear, you weren't to be left alone heaven forbid you nick something. You sighed, this would make things more difficult than they already were. Once it was just you and the butler left in the drawing room, you waited until his back was to you before you lept of the couch, creeping up behind him before you had him in a death lock, knocking him out. "Sorry sir." You picked up his unconscious body, deciding to lay him on the loveseat. Rushing over to the table you yanked the fountain pen out of the ink pot and scribbled out a note;

_I fear your butler has fallen ill, he fainted suddenly so I have placed him down on the loveseat to rest. Looking out the window it appears my carriage is fixed, thus I thank you for your kind hospitality but I must let myself out._

 _Sincerely, Miss [L/N]._

You placed the note on the coffee table next to the unconscious butler. Once that was done you scooped up your belongings and quietly made your way out of the drawing room. Following the right side of the wall, you made your way what you assumed was the bedrooms. One door you past had two voices bickering, it sounded like the Robinsons, which meant you were on the right track. You rounded the next corner and bumped straight into Archie, "oh sorry Miss. What're you doing 'ere?" 

"Archie shouldn't you be in your bed?"

"Please don't tell papa."

You sighed, kneeling down so you were eye level, "I swear not to tell, if you can point me in the direction of papa's study?"

"Okay but you didn't 'ear it from me," he pointed at the second door down to your right, "in there but he locks it now."

"Shan't be a problem, thank you Archie, now scuffle off to bed. We never saw each other."

"G'night miss," he said before fleeing.

Checking down both ends of the hallway to check it was clear, you pull out your lock picking tools and start getting to work on the office door. You have it open in record time but you realise a problem once you close the door behind you, there are no windows and the room is pitch black. "Well shit," you have to open the door once more to let the candle light from the hallway illuminate the room, you find a candle on one of those saucers you can hold on the desk so you decide to ignite that so you can finally close the door once again.

You weren't sure what you were looking for so you started with the huge stack of papers on the desk, sifting through each one. You found a document that had the Templar logo in bloody red ink on the right hand corner, it was a list of future shipments for more un-trialed weapons like those smoke bombs you encountered. You made a mental note of which shipping dock and on which days before going through the other papers. The next thing you found was... odd, it looked like blueprints to multiple communal buildings in Whitechapel and Lambeth each scribbled on with annotations. The blueprints looked like the Rooks' stronghold housing. The last thing was an unopened envelope, seal still in tack, you were about to look at who sent it but you heard the sound of the door unlocking. You shoved the envelope into your bag and blew out the candle, placing it back on the desk making the room go bank to blackness.

Your breath hitched as the door opened, Mr. Robinson holding a candle on saucer as he stood in the doorway, you were on the other side of the door trying your damnedest not to move an inch. His candle illuminated very little as he walked further into the room, bless your luck he closed the door without looking behind himself. He was muttering profanities under his breath as he approached his desk. You were unarmed and honestly, could not fight hand to hand combat in this dress - your skirts were already heavy enough without being damp. You could either wait here for god knows how long and wait for him to leave - still at risk of getting caught, or you could improvise. You decided to improvise, quietly you approached from behind and leaned over his shoulder, "what the devil-" you blew out the candle.

"Who the hell is there?"

You giggled, trying your best to impersonate his wife, "sorry I just felt so awful about before I wanted to apologise."

He sighed, "Martha I have some very important things to deal with, leave now and I might forgive you in the morning." You heard him opening his drawers, his attention diverted from you as he lit up a match to reignite his candle. You took that opportunity to slip out of his office. Now you just had to get out of here - the Mrs. would be looking for you by now if she hadn't been to the drawing room yet.

You heard the godawful sound of a window creaking open at the end of the hallway to your right, "pst they're looking for you - and I don't think you're gonna get out through the front door."

You rolled your eyes, but seeing no other option, rushed to the window, "bored out there Mr. Frye?"

He smiled, "Jacob. I was for a bit until you entered that enclosed office, once Mr. Robinson went in there I thought the plan was foiled. Most impressed."

"Ye of little faith," you shoved at his left arm, "move out of the way you oaf."

He did the opposite and leaned into the window, grabbing your belongings, "I'll hold onto these, after all I am not the one jumping from two storeys in a dress."

You gulped, it had been awhile since you'd done any form of parkouring, let alone in a dress - you decided to take your lady like shoes off and dropped them out the window, they weren't your favourite pair so it didn't matter. "Yes it's not the most practical of attires," you said and you clambered out the window, hanging on the ledge. The wall was wet with rainwater, making gripping a difficult task. You closed your eyes hard enough that you saw red, and dropped, your stomach lurching as you fell. The impact hurt your heels most of all but you managed to stay upright.

"I'm surprised you didn't use your umbrella to gut the lad," you heard Jacob chuckle from behind you.

You smiled and turned to face him as he passed you back your belongings, "sadly my umbrella is not equipped with the same mechanism as my parasol."

"How mundane," he was smiling back at you, "the night is still young and I want to hear about what you were able to recover, there is a pub the next block down."

"You want to talk about having just infiltrated a Templar's house in a pub?" you gave him a quizzical look.

"It will be loud and the people will be too sloshed to be suspicious."

"Very well, I could go for a pint myself it has been a long day." He didn't offer his arm as a gentleman would, which made you glad, because you wouldn't have taken it anyway.

You wanted to keep the social interaction between you and Jacob to a minimum.

**

"Right so tell me what you know." Jacob somehow was able to attain hold of a tophat somewhere on your journey to the pub, though you didn't see when that happened.

You were both seated at a table in a somewhat isolated area of the pub, you took a swig of your drink before you told him what you saw, "well there are three more lots of shipments coming over the next three weeks, full of ghastly untrialed weaponry like those bombs you destroyed," you gave him the side eye look at that memory, "at the south western docks in the Thames, every Friday night at 8pm."

"Glad you remembered when and where, we would not want those on the black market." He looked out at the drunken idiots before you.

"Also there were these blueprints, they looked like the units you use to house your Rooks in Whitechapel and Lambeth - covered in drawings and annotations - it looked as if the blighters were planning some sort of ambush."

He frowned, "I don't supposed it said when exactly?"

You shook you head, "afraid not." You took another swig, "oh! But I did get this," you reach into your bag producing the envelope you snatched, "the seal has the Templar mark, it has been unopened." You handed it to him, figuring he can take the blame for opening it.

He scratched his chin as he opened it, after scanning it for a few minutes he looks you in the eye, "looks like Mr. Robinson and his wife are to be attending a ball with the governess. Pity they never received their invitation innit?" He winked at you coyly.

"What are you suggesting, Jacob?" You frowned at him, not liking where this was going.

"Nothing yet. The ball isn't until next week, however, if you want to stop a certain shipment on Friday night I would not be opposed to having the extra help."

You dropped his gaze, "Jacob, field work is not my specialty. Not anymore," you voice was solemn.

"Well we already know that these products are of no use to us, all we need to do is dispose of them - I did not see you shy away from killing that brute at the factory."

"Yes because I was trained that way, and I want it to stop, I was caught up in the moment."

He looked rather upset, "well I am sure it is possible that if we are stealthy enough we can do it without getting blood on your hands."

"Jacob you're an Assassin, killing is in your job description. Besides, I have no doubts you can blow up the shipments and kill everyone on board without so much as receiving a nick on your skin."

His lips switched into the ghost of a crooked smile, "you give me too much credit. Now, forgive me for prying, but what or who did you train for?"

You looked at him from the corner of your eye as you set your pint back, "I think you know."

"I have my suspicions, I just want to hear you say it."

You groaned, "fine! I was like you, an Assassin, but I left three years ago."

"Mhm, I figured. But how on earth did you let the Brotherhood let you go like that?" He asked genuinely.

"I faked my death," you deadpanned. "I was fairly new so they never bothered for a fully fledged investigation - Henry Green helped out on that part. I am forever indebted to him for that, so I give him information when I can."

He nodded slightly at that before he downed his drink, "makes sense. Perhaps with time you will have grown accustomed to me enough to tell me why you left, but until then I shall wait." He stood up, "I do not expect to see you there on Friday, but it would make my night a lot easier and less messier if you were there."

"Only time will tell, Jacob."

He smiled his crooked smile, "goodnight [Y/N]."

****

You have no idea what possessed you to go through with this, but here you are at the south western Thames docks on a Friday night in your most basic of dresses. The rest of your week had gone by without any incident, you hadn't run into Jacob bless your luck, and Archie was smiling a lot more in your classes and even answered two of your questions. It had been a pretty good week, and yet here you were, with the possibility of starting your weekend badly.

From your cover you could see the ship hadn't arrived yet and there were about five blighters waiting on the docks, good you had made it on time at least.

"I am genuinely surprised to see you here [Y/N]," Jacob crouched besides you, his voice hushed.

"I am glad to see the dock is still here and not engulfed in flames, I had to come prevent such event you see," you smirked at him.

"How will I recover from such a slight?" He joked.

Your smile dissolved as you saw the boat pulling up to the docks, "what's the plan?"

"Well I was thinking we could cut the ties on there carriages, however you're not quite dressed inconspicuously enough, so leave that to me - you will be the decoy," he chuckled under his breath, "I hope your acting is up to par," and with that let was gone in the shadows once more.

You frowned, "my acting is impeccable - it's gotten me this far."

There were about ten other blighters on the boat, probably more, there was no way you could distract them all. You gritted your teeth as you knew what you had to do, you waited until they had unloaded most of the boxes onto shore - when you saw one approaching one of the carriages you briskly walked in the midst of it all, ensuring to "bump" into the brute at the edge of the water. You tumbled into the freezing and dirty waters below, screaming pleas of help.

This got the reaction you wanted, everyone diverted their attention to you "he pushed me in the water! Help I cannot swim!"

"Dom you bleedin' idi't! Get her out, we don't want to draw any attention!" You heard one of the female blighters yell as some gathered around you, arms reaching out to grasp at your flailing arms. They managed to pull you up, you were shivering, "Miss please be on yer way, we 'ave important business 'ere," the female blighter jabbed at you.

You saw that there were only six blighters left, Jacob had clearly been picking them off. You frowned, "yes, I'll be on my way." You stood up only to 'accidentally' shove the female blighter into the water. 

"Oi! Stop her!"

You legged it, pulling your wet and heavy skirts up and ran as fast as you could, slamming into the blighter loading boxes into a carriage Jacob had missed. "I'm afraid you can't take this carriage." You were pulling up by someone - Jacob - and launched onto the passenger side of the seat.

"Brave move," Jacob whipped the horse to go "my rooks will take care of the rest - you know had you pulled that act a minute later we wouldn't have an escape ride."

You rolled your eyes, "suuuure we wouldn't - you just didn't count all the carriages did you?"

"Maybe," you could hear the smile in his voice.

Suddenly you heard the sound of a bullet whistling past your ear, you turned to see that two of the blighters had mounted a horse and were chasing after you.

"Jacob!"

He looked behind, "well it looks like we have company. Here-" he handed you the reigns, "get us out of here!" He pulled out his gun, firing at the blighters.

He picked them off easy enough but in your haste you had past some other blighters on patrol in their red carriage and soon enough you had three red carriages chasing after you.

"Hold on!" You screamed as Jacob as you prepared to ram into the carriage on your right "get out of my way you wanker!" You scream at the blighters to your right, ramming them into a wall.

Jacob was laughing, firing his gun at the others "nice work."

You laughed as well, tugging on the reigns harder to urge the horse to move quicker.

In a matter of minutes you lost the blighters and you found yourself near the Whitechapel train station where some Rooks took care of the shipment boxes. Adrenaline gone, you started shivering, it was a very cold night and you were still wet - at this rate you were going to catch death and you were miles from your home in The Strand. Teeth chattering, you frantically rubbed your arms hoping to gain some friction with no such luck.

"You're going to catch your death," it's like Jacob read you mind, he took his jacket off and slung it over your shoulders.

"Oh no I canno-"

He raised his hand to stop your protests, "no I won't hear it, you jumped into the bloody Thames in the middle of the night."

Your lips twitched into a small smile, "thank you," you said in a very hushed tone.

"Come on, you need to get into dry clothes - I'm sure my sister has a spare dress she's never worn before, and I won't hear any protests." Honestly you were too tired and too cold to protest, fresh clothes sounded very appealing.

"Besides, Evie's cart has a fireplace in it." He said as he lead you to the train station.

You were clearly confused, "I beg your pardon?"

"Our hide out is on a train, clever right?" He raised an eyebrow at you.

"Yes, so I assume it was Evie's idea?" You teased.

"Once again, you wound me. No, it was actually my idea, which is why Evie has the worst cart - the one right by the engine." He replied rather smugly.

You winced, "does she ever get any sleep over all that infernal noise?"

He laughed, "I doubt it - she probably goes over to Greenie's."

You elbowed him in the ribs, "play nice would you."

"Oh you are no fun," he raise his right arm out - drawing your attention to the train in front of you, "home sweet home."

You entered on the cart where the rooks hung out, it was rather crampt but it had a small bar so you couldn't complain, the next was Jacob's - messy as you had expected, and Evie's cart was tidy and well organised unsurprisingly. You saw Evie sitting on a chair, preoccupied with a book.

"Sister dearest-"

"Jacob what do you want?" She interrupted.

"Who said I want anything?" He retorted.

Evie looked up from her book, deadpanning at her brother. Her expression softened as she saw you and she stood from her seat, "and who is this?"

Jacob introduced you, "Evie this is [Y/N], she has been doing your missions as of late."

"Oh I do hope my brother hasn't driven you mad." She chuckled.

You smiled at her, "I might have chucked rocks at his head."

She laughed out loud at that, "excellent." She then noticed your shiver and wet hair, "I suppose Jacob brought you here to borrow some fresh clothes."

You nodded, "that is with your permission."

She waved her hand at Jacob, indicating for him to go to his own cart, "no worries, I hardly have the time to wear dresses in this line of work; thank goodness." She rummaged through her wardrobe and pulled out a lilac dress, very basic with few frills and no underwire.

"That should do perfectly," you said as she handed you the dress.

"I shall be in the next cart should you need assistance," she said before closing the door.

You doubted you would need help, you had lived alone for three years and had mastered how to take corsets on and off by yourself, as difficult as it was.

**

You entered Jacob's cart with his coat hanging over your left arm, your own dress over your right, the siblings were bickering about something, so you cleared your throat, "thank you Miss Evie, the dress was a perfect fit thank you."

She smiled at you, showing her perfect white teeth, "not a problem. I shall get the fireplace in my cart going, if you will excuse me," she briskly past you to get into her own cart. You went over to Jacob who was reclining on the couch, he handed him his jacket, "thank you Jacob but I really ought to be heading back home now," he stood up from his couch about to speak "-and no I do not need you to escort me home, I'll nick an empty carriage if need be."

He smiled at that, "I just wanted to thank you for helping out tonight." He knelt down to pick a piece of paper off the floor, "also I need to ask, what are your plans on Tuesday night?"

"Vacant," you narrowed your eyes at him, "why?"

"Because you and I will be attending the ball as the Robinsons." He replied curtly. 

Your mouth fell open, "surely you can get Evie to do that."

He sighed, "you'd think but she's blowing me off for more assignments with Greenie."

You gritted you teeth, "fine," you spat. 

"I shall pick you up at 8pm, I do hope you have a fancy dress for the occasion."

You scoffed, "don't be daft of course I do - I hope you have proper attire."

He smirked, "indeed I do."

You heard the train come to a stop, you must be at a train station - you didn't care which, "goodnight Jacob," you curtly turned from him and left the train.


	4. Moonlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This](https://byronsmuse.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/1860-pale-blue-ball-gown.jpg) is the dress for the ball // and [this](https://youtu.be/vbttZVTSJRU?t=4s) was the music I was listening to during the dancing scenes.

The rug was bound to be wearing thin from your constant pacing, you kept pacing back and forth in your living room in front of the empty fireplace because you were incredibly nervous for the ball tonight. Your hair was down, with plaits running along both sides encrusted in small silver jewels to match your silvery blue dress - you've never felt like such a target before in your entire life. You hadn't been to a ball since you were a little girl, god you hope you weren't going to screw everything up.

Before you could tear the hair out of your scalp you heard a knock at the door - it must be Jacob, you had no doubts he would have followed you home from that night at the train. You sighed with relief as you rushed over to the door, you just wanted it over and done with.

Opening the door you were greeted with a very well dressed Jacob Frye, in a sleek black tuxedo - his hair slicked back as he had no tophat. "So you did follow me home the other night." He merely shrugged.

You curtsied, changing the subject, "why Mr. Frye you do look very dapper."

His mouth seemed to be slightly agape, was it awe? He composed himself shortly, clearing his throat before bowing his head, "ah Miss. [L/N] you don't look too bad yourself."

You lightly shoved at him, "how rude."

You hadn't noticed Jacob had been holding something until he gave you some sort of black lace object, "it is a masquerade ball after all." He smiled at you before putting his own plain black and red mask on. You put yours on, adjusting the strap so it was a good fit.

He lead the way to the carriage, opening the door and holding his hand out to help you inside in a very gentleman like manner. You took his hand, you figured you were going to be subjected to such gentleman like behaviour for the rest of the night so there was no point in declining. You rode the carriage in comfortable silence, but you could not stop your left leg from jittering at your nerves.

Jacob firmly placed a hand on your left knee, stilling it, "don't tell me you have stage fright," he said with a sly smirk.

You stopped gnawing on your index finger, "I have not been to a ball in a very long time, I am afraid my etiquette is not up to scratch."

He huffed, removing his hand slowly, "such a silly thing to catastrophise - it is a ball all you have to do is act posh and gather as much intel as you can," he paused, "or are you afraid of the dance floor?"

"The last time I danced I was about twelve and had to stand on my father's shoes, before I was an assassin I was very clumsy. I hope it does not translate into tonight." You fumbled with your hands in you lap - unable to keep still.

"Well I do not know if we will have to dance tonight, just follow my lead," he grabbed your hands, "if that is too much to ask I'm sure you could get away with standing on my shoes," he raised you right hand up - giving it a quick kiss on the knuckles.

You scoffed, "Jacob I am afraid I would break your toes," you pulled your hands away, "but the thought does calm my nerves."

The ride to the ball was a short one, the carriage pulled in front of a well lit three storey mansion, Jacob held his hand out once more to assist you out of the carriage. As you two approached the guards outside he offered his right arm, you hooked your left arm through it smiling at the guard as Jacob presented him with the invitation.

"Have a pleasant evening Mr. and Mrs. Robinson," he said as he gestured for you to enter.

"Don't we make quite the couple," Jacob said low enough so only you could hear.

You scoffed, "oh don't make me laugh."

You entered the ballroom, some were dancing, most were off to the sides chattering. Leaning in close to Jacob you asked, "so is there anyone of interest in particular that we should be looking for?" 

"Gang stronghold leaders like Bloody Nora and Octavia Plumb are here and it really would be nice if I knew when they were planning to ambush my Rooks," he was completely serious - this is probably the first time you have ever heard him so stern.

"Ugh, it is going to be a very long night is it not?" You scanned the crowd, not finding how to distinguish Templars from ordinary party goers.

"A long night indeed," he lead you to a large group of people conversing. 

The man talking turned to address you both, "ah now whom are we speaking to? Damn these masks I do not know who I am talking to half the time." The man sounded frightfully posh. 

"The Robinsons," Jacob answered, "we were almost late to the ball as those degenerate Rooks tried to ram us off the road." You looked quizzically at Jacob from the corner of your eye, but he pointedly ignored you. 

"Those Rooks can be troublesome but I hardly believe they are a threat to Crawford's hold on London." 

Your conversation had reached nearby ears, a women in a deep red dress and black hair approached your little group of people, "tell me about it - those Rooks have been giving my workers a tough time lately in the Thames, we lost yet another one of our shipments!" Her voice was getting much too loud for such a formal occasion. 

The frightfully posh man eyed her through his mask, "yes dear, who are you?" 

She scoffed lightly, "Nora ," she continued her story as if she had not been interrupted, "last Friday night I was supervising over the new imports of Starick's when this bloody git-" she got a few raised eyebrows from her audience - "of a woman falls into the water!" 

Your grip on Jacob's arm suddenly tightens, for fear of her recognising you behind the mask, he places his other hand over yours, squeezing it in a gentle manner to try sooth your sudden nerves. "So I get my men to help her up and the next thing I know she is shoving me into that disgusting river while she runs away on the only carriage that was not sabotaged. I swear she was working with that stupid Rook leader that night, she evaded us." There were small gasps from the group, shocked at the scandalism of it all, "so security will be doubled on this Friday - more snipers than ever." She folded her arms, clearly pleased with herself. 

The posh man's wife was fanning herself with her delicate lace hand fan, "such dreadful business, I do hope you are careful out there Miss. Nora." 

"Always am ma'am." She clearly saw someone she knew, "now if you will excuse me," she hastily curtsied and rushed over to a nearby and very bulky man who looked as if his suit would tear apart at the seams. "Raffles! You're late for god's sake!" 

You narrowed your eyes, since living in London under the blighters control you had come across that name before... "Benjamin Raffles," you said aloud to Jacob. 

"Pardon us," he said to those posh snobs, pulling you away, "whom?" 

"He works for Maxwell Roth, one of his top men. I would not be surprised if he is one of the men ordered to coordinate those ambushes on your strongholds." You eyed the man in question, he certainly filled the description you had been given. 

"What kind of name is Raffles?" Jacob chuckled. 

You elbowed him lightly, "it looks as if he is going to dance with Bloody Nora." 

"And they're certainly the chattering type." 

You sighed, unhooking your arm from Jacob's which cause him to look at you questioningly, "husband dearest, do you not think it fitting we dance?" You held out your hand to him. 

"Why I thought my lovely wife did not know how to dance," he took your hand anyway. 

"Oh she knows how to - she is just not confident enough in her skills is all." 

He scoffed, "I believe my wife has many hidden talents - she has done nothing but surprised me on every occasion we meet." His creamy hazel eyes intensely gazed into yours. 

Your cheeks reddened and you had to look away, "well let us not waste anymore time." 

"Yes, let's," he smiled as he lead you to the edge of the dancing floor. 

You turned to face each other, your left hand extend outwards and Jacob's left hand securely holding the small of your back as he lead the dance. It was a simple waltz like dance, you could see everyone else on the dance floor dancing the exact same way - moving clockwise around the dancing floor. 

"See, I knew you were not as half as bad as you thought," your faces were in close proximity to each other, you could smell the peppermint on his breath. 

Not looking away from his gaze you said, "good thing I have a good dancing partner then." 

He smiled his toothy grin at you, making your heart flutter ever so slightly. 

Suddenly you were yanked away, dancing with a random masked man - you looked back to Jacob to see he was now dancing with some woman. Oh, so this dance you had to change partners. A smile ghosted on your lips, this is what you wanted - if you could dance with Benjamin you could interrogate him about those blueprints. You had Benjamin in your sights, in two more swaps you would have to dance with him. 

You barely said a word to the other two men whom you danced with, you were completely focused on Benjamin. "Oh Mr. Raffles is it?" You said as you twirled into his arms. 

"Y-yes?" He stammered, "who are you?" 

"Mrs. Robinson - Elliot's wife." You smiled deftly at him. 

"Oh of course - forgive me it is hard to tell with all these masks." 

"No worries," you said, "while we're stuck like this, my husband meant to ask - he forgot who exactly is involved with those Rook stronghold plans," you clicked your tongue, "my poor husband has been so busy as of late he is misplacing his files all over the gaff!" 

"Oh, er, right you are." He stuttered on his next words, "my men and Edith Swinebourne's men will be working on this - it was suppos'ta be me and Cletus Strain but he was killed in the gang war with the rooks in Lambeth." 

"Oh how dreadful!" You exclaimed, "oh I do hope you get those strongholds back soon." 

He nodded curtly, "Friday night it shall be done before they know what's hit 'em." 

"Friday? But is that not-" 

"Sorry Mrs. Robinson," he interjected, "but it be time to change partners." 

You were thrown to another bloke, and after some small talk it was obvious he was not a Templar nor a blighter, same went for the rest of the men you had the displeasure of dancing with. 

The song was finally coming to a close, though biting your lip you had to admit you were a little sad you could not have danced with Jacob properly - he was good at calming your nerves, as much as the man ticks you off you will give him credit when it is due. You were so lost in the music, in your dancing that you did not see Jacob so as the song ended you were very surprised to see your last dancing partner was Jacob himself. Once your bodies collided flush against each other the song sadly ended. 

"Hello wifey," he said with a sly grin on his face. 

You tried to hide your own smile, "hello dearest husband of mine." 

He opened his mouth to say more, but you were both interrupted by the announcer on the grand staircase "attention ladies and gentlemen! We have reason to believe there are imposters among us! Please keep calm and continue your night as you were as the security guards do their questioning." 

You shot Jacob a look and stood back from him. 

"I think it is time to depart Mrs. Robinson, wouldn't you agree?" 

"Absolutely." You Agreed. 

You scrunched up your nose as you approached the front entrance, there was no way you could slip out the front inconspicuously. 

"Hmm, looks as if we are going out the back." Jacob said. 

You raised an eyebrow, "and that won't be guarded you think?" 

"No, you and I are going to go out the more unorthodox way." 

You huffed, "you mean the assassin way." 

"Precisely." He grabbed your arm as he tugged you in the way of the eastern stairwell, the ones used by the maids and housekeepers - so it kept you both out of sights. 

You reached an isolated hallway and it was like being at the Robinson mansion all over again, clambering out of a two storey window in a dress. Jacob made it out first, effortlessly as always, whereas you did get that awful sensation of ground shock once you landed, causing you to wince. 

"You are out of practice [Y/N]." Jacob said as he put his arm out to steady you. 

"Well I am just glad I decided not to wear my heels tonight that would have been even worse," you grumbled. 

You both managed to escape the property unnoticed, so you both took off your masks once you hit the sidewalk. The moon was out in its full form, casting dim shadows across the streets before you. You paused for a second just to admire the stars, it was not often you saw them as there were normally clouds or smoke distorting the night skies. 

Jacob stopped once he noticed you had ceased walking, he was a few steps in front of you, "you know you never did get to truly show me your dancing talents." 

You stopped looking up at the stars to look at him, "what are you suggesting?" 

He shrugged slightly, "well it is a clear and beautiful night - and we are near the Westminster park," he outstretched his arm to show how close it was, "I say we enjoy it." 

You took a second to ponder it, "alright Jacob," you said as you passed him, "let us enjoy tonight." You lifted your skirts up and took off in a sprint - there was one thing you had been always naturally good at and that was running, despite how difficult the dress may make it. 

You barely made it before him to the centre of the park, close to a small lake that was shimmering with the moonlight. 

Jacob grabbed your waist from behind, "oh you cannot get out of a dance that easily." 

You smiled at the ground, "I suppose it is not very ladylike of me." You looked up to see him intently looking at you, the moonlight bringing out the light tones in his eyes. 

He bowed, extending a hand, "may I have this dance?" 

In return you curtsied before taking his hand, "you may." 

Just as before he firmly placed his hand on the small of your back and lead the dance. You found it easy to keep in time despite the lack of music - the silence between you two was not uncomfortable but welcome, his eyes never left yours and that was more than enough. It was a gentle waltz, you had not tripped up yet which you were grateful for. You could feel the strong muscles of Jacob's underneath his suit, he was well built which could hardly be surprising. You noticed that you two had ended up getting closer and closer to the water, "Jacob don't you dare throw me into that lake - this dress is worth more than your entire life!" 

"Ouch!" He chuckled, "I would never do such a thing, I fear you and Evie would both gang up on me and that is something I would much rather avoid. 

"Can't take us on huh?" You teased. 

"God no," he said in return, "I would be shredded into pieces." 

You flashed a big and genuine smile at him. 

You do not know exactly how long the two of you dance for, but the breeze picked up and the clouds had returned, blanketing the park in darkness. Jacob sighed, "I think that must be my cue to escort you home - you have to get up early and teach." He reluctantly let go of you and took a step back. 

You brushed off your skirts, "I suppose that is true," then you looked up at him raising an eyebrow, "are you going to steal a carriage?" 

"If the lady wants." He said simply. 

"I want. I am rather tired." 

You sat next to him on the drivers seat, wind racing through your curled hair, undoing the small plaits. Tonight was the most fun you had had in a very long time, you could not stop smiling on your way home.


	5. Hidden Blades

Jacob walked you to the door, "thank you for doing this, truly."

"Ah yes! Now I was able to get some useful information from Benjamin - he is working with Edith Swinebourne and they are using their combined men to ambush your Whitechapel, Lambeth and Southwark strongholds." 

He clucked his tongue, "don't suppose he told you when?" 

Frowning you answered, "he did but you are not going to like it," he raised his eyebrows but said nothing, "it will be this Friday - the same time those shipments arrive." 

He growled, "goddamnit!" He rubbed his eyes, "I suppose I will have to get Evie to go to the docks but with the reinforcements Bloody Nora was talking about I can't exactly leave her to do it alone." He was looking away form you, lost in thought. 

The silence dragged on for a bit, so you interjected, "Jacob I could help assist Evie on Friday, I still have my old assassin gear." 

He suddenly looked up at you, "no! You, for whatever reason, you walked away from the brotherhood I cannot drag you back - in fact I have already dragged you too far into this - I have the full intention that tonight is the last night I get you to do this assassin business with me." His mouth seemed to droop down in the corners, he seemed genuinely upset that he had dragged you into this. 

Your lips twitched with a ghost of a smile, "although your sincerity does warm my heart I am afraid you cannot make my decisions for me. I would not be stopping Starrick's shipments for the brotherhood, I would be doing it for the innocent people of London," Jacob would not look at you so you reached out and grabbed his hand - forcing him to look up at you in the eyes," Jacob I am not asking for your permission - I will be at those docks on Friday night." 

He squeezed your hand, "alright, if you are certain then - come by the train on Thursday evening to talk to Evie about a plan - unlike me she does like coordinate things beforehand... Well most of the time." 

You nodded, "you need to keep your strongholds from the blighters, we cannot have London back in their hands." 

"Indeed." He lifted the hand he was holding, kissing your knuckles, "goodnight [Y/N]," he let go to turn to depart. 

"Goodnight Jacob," you said to no one in particular as he drove off on the stolen carriage. 

**** 

Your day teaching was the same, well that was until Archie approached you during the break, you noticed he had a fresh cut on his lip and he wore his jersey even though it was a rather warm day today. 

"Archie where did you get that cut on your lip from?" 

He hesitated, "father was not in a good mood last night, it was something about his w-work," he stammered. 

You wrapped an arm around his shoulder as you knelt to be at the same height as him, "can I look at your arms please?" 

He nodded, pushing up the sleeves to his elbows, on both arms there were bruises in the shape of finger marks - from being gripped or yanked far too tightly, you hissed under your breath at the sight of it. "I am sorry to see this - did he hurt your mother too?" Again, he just nodded. 

Lightly tracing your fingers over his bruises you felt anger rush through your veins, how could you have let this happen? This man had to pay with his life for this. 

You pulled the boy into a hug, "it will be alright Archie, you will see. I promise." You ruffled his hair, "now pull your sleeves down and play with the other children while the sun is still out." 

"Yes Miss," and with that he left you alone in your dark classroom. 

Your jaw clenches, hands balling into fists - Elliot Robinson had to die, he was a Templar who knew a lot but at the end of the day you knew his death would come, you just wanted to speed up the process. 

** 

After work you went to the nearest train station, the one located north west of the Strand, you had waited for about half and hour before the familiar sleek black train pulled up and you jumped on with no hesitation. You went from the back cart to Evie's - seeing Jacob was not in his or any of the other carts - but Evie was in hers. 

"Oh, [Y/N], what brings you here? I was not expecting you until tomorrow evening." Evie said looking up from the paperwork on her desk. 

You bit your lip, "well I was actually looking for Jacob to talk to him about Mr. Robinson." 

Evie got up from her desk, gesturing for you to sit on her bed as she sat in the seat across, "he will be out for a few more hours - but we might as well plan our attack for Friday night." 

"Yes! As I am sure your brother informed you, Bloody Nora is doubling up on the security," Evie nodded, "everyone will be on their highest alert. So, I thought, what if their boat never makes it to the docks?" 

Evie raised an eyebrow, a smug grin growing on her face, "I like that idea very much." 

You nodded slightly, "I thought as much. If we destroy their shipments before the even reach the docks we will only have the deal with the dozen or so on board, far more manageable." 

"We will intercept the ship from above, the Waterloo bridge is where we will meet, that way will will have more than enough time to destroy the shipments or decouple the boat if need be." 

"Then it's settled!" You said smiling at her. 

Evie returned your smile but sighed when she stood up, "you are more than welcome to stay in my cart [Y/N], but I must go through all these files for the Piece of Eden, I am afraid I shan't be the best of company whilst you wait for Jacob." 

"Oh," you also stood up, "that is no problem - I will wait in Jacob's cart and borrow one of the many books from his bookshelf." 

"Very well," Evie said as she sat back down at her desk. You liked her, her head was screwed on straight and once she had her mind set on something that was it. 

You waited almost two hours in Jacob's cart before you heard a distinct thud on the roof before the man himself entered the cart. 

"Fancy seeing you here," he said as he approached where you where lying on his couch, he lifted your legs up against your protest to sit where your feet had been, only to lie your feet atop his lap once he was settled. "And what brings you here?" 

You sighed, you were still so angry about Mr. Robinson so you could not join Jacob in his cheerful mood, "when are you going to kill Elliot Robinson?" 

Both of his eyebrows raised at that question, "well he has proven a useful source of information so I was not planning on it anytime soon." 

You hummed, "I thought so." 

"Stop frowning so much you are going to give yourself an aneurysm," he said as he reached over, placing a hand on your forehead to try smooth out your frown. 

You swatted his hand away and stood up abruptly, "sorry, it is just- he found out about the ball - he does not know it was us I am sure of that, but he took it out on his son and his wife." Your hands clenched into tight fists again, "I cannot stand to see Archie come to class so defeated, isolating himself from the other children - he was doing so well before." 

Hearing the defeat in your voice, Jacob leaned forward and grabbed your hands to stop them from clenching, "he may be a useful source but he is a Templar - his life is disposable." 

"I- I-" you stammered, "I cannot thank you enough Jacob." 

"Don't go thanking me just yet, I will do it on Saturday morning after I am sure my strongholds are secure." 

You flinched from his grasp now, "but he is abusing his family already!" 

He stood up from his seat, and rubbed him hands up and down your arms to try calm you, "I know but if I kill him before then they will most likely postpone the ambush, then I will have no idea how to prepare. I cannot do that to my Rooks, do you understand?" 

You nodded, "alright, I understand," you said. 

He dropped his arms letting them fall to his sides, "I am truly sorry for dragging you into all of this, it was very selfish of me," he murmured. 

"It is quite alright Jacob - a part of me thinks this was inevitable anyhow," you gave him a half sheepish smile. 

He frowned, teeth almost barring themselves, "No! It is not alright what I did-" he was cut off by someone loudly entering the room. 

Evie walked in then, "sorry [Y/N] but Jacob and I are supposed to be heading to the Thames gang war around about now." 

"No it is not a problem, though I might wait until the train stops at a station, these dresses are not the most practical of garments." 

Evie chuckled, "glad it's you who is wearing one and not me," she said before clambering outside and leaping from the train. 

Jacob gave you a mock salute as he made his way to the door, "I shall see you around," he said around a toothy grin. 

**** 

You looked at yourself in your full length mirror, not only did it feel weird to wear pants yet again but it also looked weird. Having a long assassin jacket did help with it feeling not quite so alien, but you did have to admit this was a lot more comfier and practical - it was nice to be able to breathe too without the constraints of a corset. Your assassin attire was mostly dark colours, with hints of crimson, with a white blouse, you had your hair tied up into a messy bun for tonight's mission. 

Seeing how dark the sky was getting outside the window you decided to head over to your weapon stache, a trunk full of every weapon an assassin could desire. Your assassin gauntlet matched your outfit since it was black and red. You checked the hidden blade, it still sprung forth with no problems, nothing seemed to be loose which relieved you. 

Deciding you had everything you needed, you swiftly exited your house, getting odd looks from your neighbours as you walked out the courtyard. 

The journey to your meet up spot with Evie didn't take long since you nicked an empty carriage, so you arrived a bit early and had nothing to do but scope out the area, you could see some blighters on shore but you were nowhere near close to the docks where your shipments would arrive so you didn't worry about them. Shortly you felt a presence next to you, you could see in the moonlight that it was Evie, she was so quiet on her feet you didn't hear her. 

"You almost gave me a heart attack Evie!" You shoved her shoulder lightly. 

She sniggered, "Jacob was right, you are out of practice," she paused for a bit, changing into a more serious tone, "are you sure you are up for tonight?" 

You nodded, looking out at the Thames below you, "my fighting instincts are still there and there will only be a dozen or so on the boat - which only gives us six targets each which is fairly easy - considering what I was used to back in the day." 

Evie reached for something out of one of her pouches, "well here, take some of these," she handed you two metal orbs, "they're smoke bombs courtesy of Alexander Graham Bell - they are great for when you've got more than three blighters to attack." 

You smiled, tucking them away, "thank you," you paused, "you get to work with the Graham Bell?" 

She nodded, "mhm," she showed you her assassin gauntlet, "see here - this is a hallucinogenic dart, fire it at an enemy and they'll go bonkers and even attack their own." You whistled, impressed, "and this," she flipped her arm to show the underneath - pointing to an arrowhead next to her hidden blade, "this is a rope launcher which is very handy when climbing all these buildings." 

"I bet - my gauntlet is looking severely outdated now," you pouted. 

"If you ever get back into this business I am sure Alexander would be more than happy to update it, lovely chap he is," she said. A moment passed before Evie spoke again, "it is almost eight, and the boat directly below us looks like our target." 

You followed her line of vision, and surely enough there was a boat tugging along with many cargo boxes and littered with about thirteen blighters, "time to jump." 

Evie made a sound of disgust as she climbed onto the railing, "the water is going to be so cold," and she dived straight in - to the right side of the boat. 

You followed suite, diving on the left side, that way you both flanked the blighters from behind. The water was freezing, but the adrenaline kicked in soon enough that you forgot about it. As you climbed aboard, keeping hidden behind some of the boxes Evie moved from her hiding spot to join you, "I think we should detach the engine boat from the rest of the boat," she whispered. 

"I agree, but how?" You asked quietly. 

"I will run ahead if you can provide a loud enough distraction back here." 

You took in a shaky breath, "can do." Before you could psych yourself out you jumped out from your hiding spot and fired you gun at the nearest blighter - the sound rippling through the air. Their attention was drawn to you, about four or so of them, but it was enough for Evie to slip past unnoticed as they ran towards you. 

You pulled your cane sword out from your jacket, the blade glinting in the moonlight, "alright boys let's dance." You hit the handle of your cane into a blighter's head, disorientating him as you dodged a hit from another who you hit in the face then stabbed through the neck. You pulled the disoriented one down so his head collided with your knee then he fell into the river. You stabbed the next oncoming blight in the stomach, using the momentum of your sword as you pulled it out from his chest to rack it up his face, slitting his throat in the process. You saw that the boat had stopped moving, and you could hear Evie fighting her own battles up ahead, this distraction caused for a blighter to land a hit to your temple - it hurt like hell but it cursed anger through your veins so you shoved the blade down his mouth and threw his body onto a blighter who came running towards you - sending them both into the river. 

Five, you killed five so that meant Evie was dealing with eight, you ran over to assist her only to find there were two left so you snuck up behind the one who she wasn't fighting and used your hidden blade to cut his throat. "Argh!" Once Evie finished with the last blighter she turned to you, "not bad. Ready to blow all this up?" 

You nodded, "they were dumb enough to leave crates of alcohol on board, if we place them close enough to the cargo we can blow it up that way." 

"Let's get to it then," she said as she leaped onto the next boat. 

Between the two of you it only took a few minutes to set up, once you were satisfied you leaped onto a nearby boat that was passing by. You both aimed your guns at the crates and a domino effect ensured, blowing up all the cargo on board. 

"This is a much better plan than going to the docks like I had originally thought, nice work [Y/N]." Evie said. 

You blushed slightly at the compliment, "just glad to help out."


	6. Casualties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that one mission with the corrupt policeman in the graveyard? Yeah it's like that mission.

You went back to the train with Evie, to await for Jacob's return that would no doubt go long into the night.

You cracked the joints in your hands as you sat down in a booth of the pub cart, Evie sitting opposite you. 

"If you don't mind my prying," she began, "but why did you leave the Brotherhood?" 

You sighed, deflating, "it was not just the killing," you bit your lip unsure how to continue, "it was more of who I killed." 

Evie said nothing, but gave you a small encouraging nod for you to go on. 

"Three years ago I was assigned a Templar target, a woman by the name Rosaline Adams, I had followed her for weeks learning her patterns, where she went to during the day, where he meetings took place, where she lived, what time she went to bed, what time she had dinner... Then the day of her assassination I did not follow her from her home, I had planned to ambush her on her way to work. I noticed she had her hood up, which was unusual since I had never seen her do that before and she was a Templar - but before I elaborated on the out of character behaviour I lept down from the roof and killed her instantly." 

You paused for a long time, causing Evie to speak up, "...only?" 

"Only it wasn't her," you looked up from the table to look at Evie, "she had gotten some innocent girl to use as a decoy - I killed a girl who could be no older than nineteen." 

"An easy mistake," Evie said quietly. 

You frowned, "no it did not have to be a mistake - I thought something was up and yet I did nothing to act upon said suspicion!" You threw your hands up before continuing in a quieter tone, "I went to her funeral, I saw her parents and siblings grieve so much for this girl they lost. I took her future from her because of some stupid mistake." 

"But, [Y/N] you are only human," came a familiar voice from the door. 

Both you and Evie turned to see Jacob approaching you. 

"Jacob it is my job not to make such mistakes!" You had been told over and over by those who knew what happened that it was a mistake - you hated the word as a result. 

He sat next to you in the booth, "you are not a killing machine - lord knows I have stuffed up more times than I can count," he paused to gesture at Evie, "even she has made mistakes." 

Evie nodded, "as much as I hate to admit it Jacob is right." 

You just muttered under your breath at that, "well anyway - Jacob our night was successful how was yours?" You pointedly looked down at your hands on the table. 

"Well Evie and I killed Bloody Nora at the Thames gang war so it only left us with Benjamin Raffles but he was at the Lambeth stronghold and I was in Whitechapel - so I was not able to kill him and my Rooks were not able to catch him once he fled. The strongholds are still ours, we lost quite a few but it would have been so much worse had you not found those blueprints," he placed a rough hand over your own giving it a tight squeeze. 

"Oh, Jacob! That reminds me I was spying at the Robinson estate last night, his security has tripled I was not able to get anywhere near the bastard but I did find out at noon he will be at a meeting in the graveyard - of all places - the next road over from his home," Evie said. 

Jacob retracted his hand from yours, "hmm I suppose there will be a lot of security there too." 

Evie nodded, "but it is not anything you haven't done before - just try and be discrete this time." 

**** 

You were pretending to window shop at the stores across from the graveyard where Jacob would assassinate Elliot Robinson, it is not that you didn't trust Jacob, you just wanted to see the man dead and that is was unmistakably him. At precisely noon you saw a man being escorted by red blighters, the man had the red Templar mark as clear as day on his left arm - you were close enough to see that it was indeed Elliot Robinson. 

You looked up at the rooftops looking for any sign of Jacob but you found nothing, so you kept your eyes trained on Robinson. Although you did notice the amount of blighters seemed to be thinning out, Jacob was working stealthily in the vicinity then. Robinson met with another man, who had no Templar marks and looked like your common worker, so Robinson waved off most of his bodyguards to stand guard at the entrances of the graveyard, leaving only two bodyguards at his side. From an assassin point of view this looked all too easy now. 

The next sequence of events happened so fast it took your brain a while to process the whole thing; Jacob air assassinated the two remaining body guards by Robinson's side, leaving Robinson alone to deal with Jacob. The other blighters had yet to hear or see what was happening, save for one who came rushing over to aid Robinson - Jacob diverted his attention to the newcomer, this was not something he couldn't handle, you'd seen him out of the field you knew what he could do. And yet Robinson somehow took advantage of the situation and fired a bullet straight into Jacob's shoulder before stabbing him in the lower back. 

You screamed Jacob's name at the top of your lungs, dropping your bag as you clicked open the hidden knife in you parasol - you tripped a few times on your skirts but you ran into the graveyard and attacked any blighter you encountered. Your entrance caused quite the commotion, getting the attention of all the blighters but you didn't care. 

You tried to avert the attention away from Jacob's crumpled form, running past headstones as the blighters lept at you. You dodged all attacks, slicing people in the back, stabbing at their necks - you were high on adrenaline and you preformed a substantial amount of multi kills. Nearby Rooks had heard the gunshot and assisted you in your battle until there were only blighter corpses left. Your pale peachy dress was drenched in the bloodshed, but you could not care about the blood lust that had just consumed you, for you saw Jacob bleeding out on the ground. 

"Jacob!" You rushed over to him, discarding your parasol to the ground as you ran towards him. "You!" You pointed to a nearby Rook, "pull up a carriage now - we have to get him to medical help!" He nodded before rushing out of there with two Rooks behind him. 

Jacob was still breathing, "oh, no, no, no, Jacob I am so sorry," you applied all your strength to his open wound, "it'll be alright okay? You just have to stay awake okay? Please don't leave me," you whimpered. 

He was unresponsive, but he hissed under his breath at the pressure your hands were giving to the wound. 

You heard the wheels of a carriage halting to a stop and two burly Rooks came over to carry Jacob to the carriage, you followed after them leaping into the carriage with no time to spare, "get us to Miss Nightingale post haste!" You yelled at the driver, lurching the carriage forward. 

You had Jacob's head in your lap as a Rook tried to keep him off of the seat so he could apply pressure to the wounds in his back. You could see the colour draining from Jacob's face, his lips quivering. You ran a hand through his hair, his tophot long lost, trying to soothe him, "Miss Nightingale is the best we have, she will have you patched up in no time." 

Jacob tried to smile at that but his face contorted in pain, "um - ouch," he hissed. 

"Shh, shh, Jacob for once would you shut it?" You teased. 

He managed to huff out a small laugh but remained silent. 

The ride seemed arduously long but it was probably only a matter of minutes, Jacob was out of your arms before the carriage came to a complete stop and was indoors being attended to before you could step a foot outside the carriage. 

Your relief was short lived as the memory came back to you, Elliot Robinson was still out there and he almost got Jacob killed in front of your own eyes. It was still uncertain if Jacob would even survive, he had lost a lot of blood - you should be there for him right now - but you couldn't stand to see him like that, you wouldn't be able to stand to see him die. You balled your bloodied hands into fists and marched to your home, not far from here, not caring at the looks of horror thrown your way by strangers as they looked at your blood covered dress. 

Once home you cleaned the blood from your hands then undressed yourself, knowing this would be the last time you would wear a dress. You changed into your assassin gear as quickly as you could, but took no time to relish in the comfort as you headed to Alexander Graham Bell's house. His house was quite the trek from the Strand so you stole a carriage from a lone blighter. 

**

You knocked on his door rather impatiently, and the door swung open just as quickly. 

"You wouldn't happen to be a friend of the Frye twins would you?" Alexander asked, raising an eyebrow. 

You smirked, "does my outfit give it away?" 

"And your bracer, do come in," he opened the door further to gesture you inside. 

"Evie said I could come to you to have my equipment updated." You showed him your old assassin gauntlet. 

"Certainly, it shan't take long," he grabbed you by the gauntlet and pulled you over to his desk. In about ten minutes your gauntlet was now equipped with hallucinogenic darts and a rope launcher. 

"You are very good at what you do" you said to him as you turned your gauntlet over to inspect your new toys. 

"You also might want these," he handed you some smoke bombs like Evie had given you and something else of similar style, "smoke bombs and electric bombs - to stun your enemies." 

"Impressive stuff Mr. Bell." 

He handed you what looked like show soles, "put these in your shoes if you don't fancy being electrocuted too." 

"Thank you for everything you have done today," you said. 

"Ah a friend of the Fryes is a friend of mine," he patted you on the shoulder, "now forgive me but I have more work that needs to be done." 

You nodded, "I shall see you again," you said as you showed yourself out. 

Freshly equipped, it was now time to hunt down Mr. Robinson once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest I wish there were more missions with Alexander, he's such a funny guy... I want an Alexander Graham Bell DLC @ Ubisoft.


	7. Bloodied Waters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't listen to the [Jack the Ripper theme](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkCVkjT5sKct) or you'll write dark shit like this, anyway this chapter is almost 5k words _good lord._

You hopped off the train, smelling the sea salt in the air, you had arrived in the fishing town of Plymouth, a few hours from London on train. It had been two days since the graveyard incident and you spent every waking second trailing leads after Elliot Robinson, he had fled to Plymouth shortly after the events transcribed. You were eventually able to threaten enough blighters to derive this information and without a second thought you went on the first train heading south west. You hadn't heard word from anyone about Jacob which admittedly frightened you but you tried not to dwell on it.

Plymouth wasn't exactly a small town, it had a population of 113,000 - though this was much smaller than London, it was still like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You did notice one thing when you walked into the main streets of the town, there were blighters everywhere. At least you were in the right place. If Robinson was planning on setting up Templar operations here he had something else coming his way. 

You decided to start at the various inns, asking for a Mr. Robinson, it was now nightfall and dark, you were up to the thirteenth inn and you had started to lose all hope. 

"Is there a Mr. Robinson here?" You asked politely at the reception, the woman startled at your voice. Wordlessly she handed you a sealed envelope before standing up and physically ushering you out of the building, locking the door behind her. 

"How rude," you muttered under your breath as you pulled open the seal; 

_Miss. [L/N],_

__

__

_You and your compadres have caused me quite the headache, I do not know what you are doing teaching at my son's school but you will no longer be welcome back to work there, or anywhere else in London for that matter. As long as there are Templars in London and Starrick keeps his rule, women like you will be put out to the streets. I write this letter in the confidence you have found my new location, you are an observational one - something I recognised when I first saw you in my drawing room. I do not plan to be stationed in Plymouth indefinitely, once Starrick and his men have dealt with those Frye twins I will move back to my family. Ah, yes, family - [Y/N] why did you drag my family into your crude assassin business? My poor boy has suffered enough. But no matter, I give you this letter as a warning, leave Plymouth now because there is no profound way you will find me any time soon._

_Sincerely, Elliot Robinson._

You scrunched the letter up into a ball, discarding it to the ground, "actions speak louder than words Mr. Robinson," you muttered to yourself. On the door of the inn you etched the Assassin symbol into the wood using your hidden blade. 

It had started to rain so you pulled your hood up, looking at all the blighters walking the dimly lit streets, "time to send a message then." 

You stuck to the walls of building, hiding in the shadows as you ducked around the corner of an alleyway, waiting for a blighter to pass by. You sprung out of your cover and lodged your hidden blade in his throat, tossing his dead body behind you. You emerged out of the alleyway and crossed the road to sneak up on another unsuspecting blighter - you grabbed out your daggers as you pinned one of his hands to the wall then did the same to his other hand. He screamed in pain, causing on goers to scream away in terror - you slit his throat to silence him but left him hanging as other blighters approached you. 

You dodge and counter your first attack, stunning your opponent so you can focus on the next. You hit your oncoming attacker on the head with your cane sword which makes him fall to the ground, you stab the sword through his spine while you throw your remaining pocket daggers at nearby blighters. The dazed blighter is coming to, so you lodge your sword through his ear, his lifeless body hitting the ground with a loud thump. It goes on like that for your next three attackers, their bodies lying lifeless on the pavement underneath the one you pinned to the wall. 

Should Mr. Robinson ever look out his window or leave the inn he will be greeted with the sight of his dead blighters. 

You loot the bodies for any weapons, finding more hallucinogenic darts and make your way to the docks - you figure that is where a large amount of blighters will be stationed. 

As you were walking down to the docks, guilt ran through your body - so you had to remind yourself why you were doing this; for Archie and his mother... and for Jacob. You gritted your teeth hard at the memory of him bleeding out on you as you ran your bloodied hands through his thick auburn hair. You quickened the pace to the docks - just keep focused on the mission, as Evie had once quoted, "don't let personal feelings compromise the mission." You chuckled to yourself at that, the whole reason you were doing this mission was for a personal vendetta. 

The docks were misty from the rain and sea, making visibility hard, you smirked; this would be too easy. The entire docks were covered in puddles, but the rain was loud enough that you wouldn't be heard. You snuck up to a brute, pulling him down by his ankles then you stabbed him in the back of the neck. You did the following fashion for the rest of the blighters on the docks, not a single one had seen you so every kill was a stealth kill. The puddles were red with the blood of the guilty, the entire docks were painted a crimson red. There was a stack of shipments on the eastern corner of the docks, upon inspection you saw each cargo box with a bright red Templar mark - so without much thought you simply shoved all the boxes into the waters below. 

"I found a body! What do I do?" You heard a woman ask aloud, so you walked on over to her. 

"The authorities will be here soon," you turned your attention to the remaining people on the docks, "please go home - the authorities will not want to be squandered with you all here." 

The people mumbled to themselves as they shuffled on their way. The rain was subsiding into a light drizzle so you decided to continue on with your quest. You went to the main street and saw many blighters wandering the streets and a few snipers on the rooftops. You scaled the nearest building, the task made so much easier and quicker with your new rope launcher. You stealthily assassinated the five snipers, leaving only those on the ground left. You counted seventeen in the area, you waited and observed their patterns. Once two of the blighters turned the corner as they had done twice already you jumped off the roof and landed between them, stabbing one in the neck and slicing the other's. You did the same for the next ten or so blighters until you were finally caught in the act, the blighter who caught you whistled to get the attention of his other comrades. 

The remaining blighters flanked you, so you dropped two bombs - one smoke bomb and one electric bomb, stunning those around you. Your cane sword was already sheathed, so you spun into action immediately, hitting one out right in the head - killing him. Then you grabbed two standing next to each other, bashing their skulls together before you stabbed them both through the head in once strike. One blighter tried to attack you in his daze so you withdrew your bloodied sword and stuck it into his abdomen while you kicked another to the ground then kicked his face in. Once you were left with nothing but bloodied corpses you fled the scene, back to the inn where Mr. Robinson was staying. 

You found shelter in the alleyway across from the inn, you were hidden behind trees and shrubbery. Though you were cold and uncomfortable it was safer than staying at some inn that could get ransacked. 

** 

You awoke at dawn to a man yelling in the street, you immediately scaled the building next to you to inspect the source. Across the road you saw Elliot Robinson surrounded by his men in their red attire, "that damn Assassin is here isn't she? She is responsible for this and the docks and the main street isn't she?" He gestured to the massacre out in front of him, "clean this up before we draw more attention here - I will have to relocate to another inn." 

You aimed a dart at a blighter next to his side - you heard the distinct 'tsk' sound as it made contact with your target. Within seconds the blighter was yelling incoherent words, brandishing his meat cleaver out and attacking Mr. Robinson. He had cut Mr. Robinson's arm and was immediately swarmed upon by the other blighters, shortly killed thereafter. 

Clutching his bloody wound Mr. Robinson looked up at the rooftops - his face plastered with fear - you made no move to hide and sure enough he saw you there on the rooftop. Before he could order his men to do anything you raised your rifle - shooting them all in the head. 

Mr. Robinson visibly blanched at that and legged it back into the inn, slamming the door behind him. You tried not to smile as you ran down to the street below you, the chase was to begin. Kicking the door open you were greeted with a terrified receptionist, who pointed you in the direction of the staircase, "thank you ma'am," you said as you bolted up the stairs. 

Just as you reached the top of the stairs you saw Mr. Robinson leap out of the window onto the building directly across. He climbed to the top, running off on the rooftops. 

Rooftops, since moving to London all those years ago, rooftops had become your playground. This was your element, so you took no time to spare as you chased after him. 

Still clutching his arm he did not get far until he meet an impasse, there were no more building to jump on - he had to jump down three flights. Before he could decide what to do you grabbed him by the arms - deliberately digging your nails into his fresh cut, "ah Mr. Robinson, I am afraid we never got to introduce ourselves," you smiled sadistically at him, "I am Miss. [F/N] [L/N], and I have come to collect your debts." 

"D-debts?" He stammered, his feet hanging off the edge as you hoisted him up. 

"Your death," you said as you used your hidden blade to stab him through the chest - you let go of him, his body sliding off the blade to hit the ground with a disgusting thud. 

You grimaced, cleaning you blade off on your right sleeve. Time to leave Plymouth and get back to London... to Jacob. 

You were met with disappointment when you reached the train station, the next train to London was not until tomorrow morning. Chewing your lip you decided to make sure the mess you had made was cleaned up by the police. 

**** 

You felt nervous waiting in the train station at Whitechapel, you had spent the day in Plymouth ensuring there were no bodies left and you stayed in an inn for the night. Your message had been clear though, all blighters that had been in Plymouth fled so you had not much to do while you stayed - you were left alone with your thoughts and all you could think about was if Jacob was alive. 

So here you were, waiting for the familiar black train to pull up, you could not settle your nerves down as you paced back and forth. After what seemed like an eternity, the train hideout finally pulled up, you lept onbaord into Evie's carriage which was empty. So, taking a deep breath you slowly made your way to Jacob's carriage. At first glance it seemed empty which made your heart sink, until you noticed someone sleeping on Jacob's couch. 

Relief washed over your entire body as you saw it was Jacob, curled up on his side so his back was to you. _Thank God he is alive_ you thought to yourself.You sat down on the floor next to his couch, fiddling with your fingers, "Jacob... Jacob I am so sorry," you whispered as quietly as you could, "I should have been here to help Evie to help you get better. But-" you bit your lip, pausing, "I did not fancy seeing you almost die - I could not witness is. So I was a coward and chased after Robinson to Plymouth, he is dead." You did not know why you were saying any of this aloud, for one you were barely audible and two Jacob was asleep. 

Well you thought so until he spoke up, "I thought you weren't going to return." He said in a light tone, trying to sit up and wincing at the pain the movement brought. He had no shirt on so you could see he had a Rook tattoo, and the bloodied bandages that wrapped around his right shoulder and torso. 

"Jacob!" You looked up to see him struggling, "ah - you probably shouldn't be moving around," you put your hands on his back - careful to avoid his wounds - to help him sit up. 

He waved his hand dismissively, "I have had worse." 

There was no trace of humour in your voice, "Jacob you look wrecked." He turned his face to look down at you, you reached your hand out to cup the side of his face, thumbing the scar in his facial hair, "I thought you dead." 

He placed a hand on your wrist, "and yet you left." He pulled your hand from his face. 

You blinked back your tears, "and I am sorry - the anger consumed me - I was there I saw what he did to you. I saw you bleed out on my dress, it was all too much," you murmured. "I do hope in time you will forgive me." 

His mouth twitched into a smile, "I have already forgiven you, you jolly well saved my life." He ruffled a hand through your hair, but his smile disappeared as he continued, "but I see you are wearing your Assassin gear." 

"Yes, well I could not pursue Elliot Robinson in a dress - he contacted my work anyhow so I am out of a job." You looked down at your hands, "it seems once an Assassin, always an Assassin." 

He hummed, "yes I got word that you eviscerated all the blighters in Plymouth." He brushed a stray hair behind your ear, "I will never forgive myself for dragging you back into this mess." 

You raised an eyebrow, "the word travels fast... and there is nothing to forgive, you cannot blame yourself for my actions; _my_ choices. 

He hummed at that. "Yes, you bloodied up the docks and left a frightful mess for the local community." 

You cringed, "I do feel bad about that - but I needed to draw Robinson out." 

He shook his head, "no I think the residents of Plymouth will be grateful to have those scumbags driven out of their town once and for all," he smiled reassuringly. 

The silence stretched between you two comfortably until Jacob spoke up again, "I will say I do not appreciate being cooped up inside - I won't be able to do my job for at least another two weeks." 

You stood up, eyeing where his clothes lay on the back of his chair, "it has only been a few days Jacob and you already have cabin fever. 

"Yes," he dramatically clutched his heart, "and it has taken ahold of my whole body - I lie here restless." 

You chuckled, looking around the cabin - seeing a wall covered in pictures and red string. "Crawford Starrick," you said to yourself as your finger traced along the string. 

"Oh [Y/N], it is good to see you are back!" Came Evie's voice from the other end of the cart, "I'm just here to change Jacob's bandages." 

"Of course," you said, not moving from your spot. 

Jacob was sitting forward so Evie could get full access to his back, she carefully undid the bloodied bandages and wrap on some fresh ones, "Evie I am going mad in here," Jacob whined. 

She clucked her tongue, "feel free to go out on a stroll if you feel that will satisfy your needs - but not alone, I do not trust you won't get yourself into trouble." 

He scoffed, "ye of little faith." 

You smiled at what he said - you had said that to him a while back, "Evie," you said as you turned to face her fully, "if Jacob is so insistent on leaving the train I would be more than happy to escort him on a stroll." You grinned widely at the disgust in Jacob's face. 

"A stroll," he muttered, "I do not see what the rich people see in strolling. How mundane." 

Evie stood up, "well it is either that or sit here all day." 

Jacob sighed, defeated, "I suppose you are right dear sister, are you chasing more leads on the Piece of Eden?" 

She narrowed her eyes at him, "yes - and I might go to a fight club on the way home," she smirked at his expression. Evie looked to you, "if he gets too irritating give him more of these," she handed you some pills - pain killers it looked like. 

You chuckled as you stuffed them into a hidden pocket, "I will keep that in mind." 

Evie left the train after that, Jacob threw his blanket to the side, wincing slightly as he stood up. 

"Your shoulder is wrecked, you are not putting that shirt on by yourself unless you want another trip to Miss Nightingale," you said as you grabbed the white undershirt from his grip. 

He rolled his eyes but made no objection. You then helped Jacob into his favourite green vest and his black jacket but stopped him from putting his gauntlet on, "uh uh, you do not need that when going on a stroll," you placed it back on the table and put your hand out, "now give me all your weapons." 

"I am not going to get out of this am I?" He asked, you shook your head. He sighed, giving you his bombs, darts, blades and kukri. 

"I said all of them," he groaned but reached into more of his pockets and handed over his gun and three more blades. "Thank you." 

"I feel at a complete loss without my tophat," he said once you were done setting down his weapons. 

"I am sure you can buy another one today, we'll stop by the," you stopped to look at what station you were pulling up to, "central city markets." 

He ran a hand through his hair, "sounds fitting." 

You walked out the door, waiting for the train to come to an absolute stop before walking off - normally in your assassin attire you would have no problem jumping off a moving train but you didn't want to push Jacob into such things. 

"Oh stop your pouting," you lightly swatted his arm, "you will be able to run off moving trains and carriages in a few weeks." 

He made no move to offer his arm which meant he was still respecting your personal boundaries, it both pleased and displeased you - on one hand it meant he didn't want to overstep and assume things, on the other you had come to like Jacob a great deal. 

"You know without your foolish tophat hopefully you won't be recognised by blighters," you chimed. 

He scoffed, "the name Frye brings fear to the streets, I do not worry about being picked on," he stopped walking for a second, "and my tophat is not foolish," he said before continuing walking. 

The nearest markets were not far from the train station, you both walked side by side on the narrow footpaths, causing others to walk on the road to get around you - or you would shove them. "I do not know how you survived three years as a lady, you are the most unladylike woman I have met, along with Evie," he said as you shoved past another person. 

"I will not lie, it is rather nice not having to worry about what people think of you anymore - and those godawful dresses - though very pretty I am not entirely sad to never see them in my wardrobe again," you were planning on selling your dresses or maybe even using them in your fireplace - whatever is more convenient. 

He hummed in agreement, "I do feel dreadful that you have been dragged into this - and to now have your career choices taken from you too." 

"Jacob how many times must I tell you not to feel guilty for all of this," you said in frustration, "also I did make my career choice when I went after Robinson - going after him had set my future and that future was to be an Assassin." 

On your journey towards the markets you had subconsciously grown to walk closer, your arms brushing against each other's every so often, your heart racing at the slight contact. You tried not to dwell on it once you arrived and instead took your focus to look for a stall of tophats. 

"Ah, over there," Jacob held you by the elbow to get your attention as he pointed at a stall selling tophats and umbrellas. 

"An odd combination of merchandise don't you think?" You asked, smirking. 

He laughed, "are you saying there is no correlation between tophats and umbrellas?" 

You grinned, "oh absolutely." You both made your way over, Jacob still holding you gently by the arm until he reached the stall and started talking to the owner about tophats. You tuned out and decided to scan the area, you were in the markets by St. Paul's where there were large fountains of water. You noticed a few stray blighters roaming around but they had not taken any notice of you, and if they did they had not acted upon it. 

"What do you think, love?" Jacob asked, pulling you out of your thoughts. 

The tophat he had on was identical to his old one, "hmm, you still look rather foolish," you said around a smug grin. 

"You wound me," he retorted. 

You both started walking through the crowds, nearing one of the fountains when you heard "well if it isn't the mighty Jacob Frye!" You both turned to see a blighter baiting Jacob. 

You put your arm on Jacob's chest to stop him from moving, "let me handle this and for the love of god do not do anything." 

You did not hear his response since you walked towards the blighter, "are you one of 'is new Rooks?" The blighter sneered. 

"I am no Rook, I am like him," you jabbed your thumb towards Jacob, "now I am going to ask you to leave us alone." 

The blighter pulled out his meat cleaver, and swung it in a large arc towards your head - which you dodged easily enough. 

"Very well," you said as you pulled your cane sword from your jacket. Using the handle of the cane you hit him in the side of his jaw then you grabbed him by the collar to slam your skull into his - it hurt a bit but not as much as it hurt him - now dazed you simply cut the dagger through his collar bone, killing him, then kicked his limp body into the fountain behind him. His blood bled into the clear water, turning the waters to a bloody red. 

You scanned the area for anymore blighters but they all scampered off, so you put your cane sword back into your jacket and walked over back to Jacob like nothing had happened. 

"You are still a bit rusty," he teased. 

"And yet I am still better than you," you teased back. 

He feigned hurt, "how will I recover from such harsh truths?" 

You shrugged, "want to go to a pub?" 

He smiled widely at that, "I thought you would never ask. Honestly, I was wondering how to bring it up." 

It was only the early afternoon but you could not find it in you to care as you both headed to the closest pub, The Public. 

You sat at your stool, looking at Jacob from the rim of your pint as he came back holding his own pint and some beer bottle in the other. You set your pint down, raising an eyebrow at him "what is so intriguing about that beer bottle?" 

He turned it in his hand as he sat down next to you, "it's almost a half a century old - this is some vintage stuff right here." 

You scrunched your nose up, "you know beer does not age well like fine wine does." 

He looked at you - wearing the same expression as you were, "I never said I was going to drink it." 

"I did not peg you as the collecting type," you said as you took another swig from your drink. 

He shrugged, "Henry has Evie and I collecting damn flowers - if I am on my way to a mission and I see some unusual flower out of the corner of my eye I have to pick it up for Henry." 

"I never did understand that British past time." 

"Rich people's past time more like," he took a quick gulp of his pint, "I mean rich people do the most boring things with their time - they go out for strolls in the park!" 

You gasped dramatically covering your mouth, "why I would never! The scandalism!" 

He lightly elbowed you, "oh stop," he chuckled. 

You had another pint after you downed you first one, Jacob did the same, though you did not allow him to have any more than that - afraid that being drunk, hungover and dehydrated would not help in his recovery. You felt all warm and fuzzy and you could not stop smiling, "Jacob I think it is time we head back." 

He held his alcohol a lot better than you did, you were not drunk but you did feel truly at ease. "But it is still light out!" He protested. 

"I am aware of that, thank you very much, but if you want to be chasing blighters again you need your rest," you replied firmly. 

He chewed the inside of his cheek, "I have no choice in the matter do I?" 

"Exactly," you said as you dragged him out of the pub by his hand. 

Once out on the street Jacob extended his arm, offering you to hook yours through. You hesitated for a moment but decided to hook your arm through his as he lead the way to the central station. 

"Thank you [Y/N], for taking me out of that damn train - I truly thought I would lose my mind," he said kindly. 

You blushed slightly, "well I fear had I not done it you would jump off the train yourself and worsen your injuries." 

He raised his eyebrows in agreement, "I guess you are not entirely wrong there." 

And that is what happened for the next two weeks of Jacob's recovery, every second day you would go to pick him up from the train, help him dress and even change his bandages and you would spend a few hours wondering around chatting away the time. He would hold his arm out each time, and you would hook your arm through - you two no longer had personal boundaries between each other and it made your heart rate increase. The days you were not with Jacob you were out doing what Jacob would have done, killed templars and blighters, tried to chase more leads after Starrick. You and Evie stopped the last of the shipments, just as you had previously.


	8. Warmth

It was the last time you were escorting Jacob on a stroll before he got the go ahead to use London as his playground once more, so as luck would have it you two encountered a gang of blighters who wanted to start a fight. You fended them off, demanding the Jacob stood by, this was no hard task but it wasn't until the whole scrap was over when Jacob looked at you worryingly that you noticed your lip had been cut. He shoved himself off the wall, worry in his eyes, as he rushed over to you - gently cupping your face in his hands as he inspected for further injuries.

"Jacob I am fine it's just a cut to my lips." 

He hummed, frowning, "yes but it is bleeding a great deal." 

You pulled away from his grasp so you could put your hand over your mouth, "since we are in the Strand my house won't be far," you muffled behind your hand. 

So here you were in your kitchen holding tissues to your lip, Jacob took the tissue from your face, inspecting the cut once more, "well it has ceased bleeding which means you will not require stitches." 

You elbowed him lightly, "I told you I would not need stitches you hypochondriac!" 

He scoffed, "I'm going to make us a cup of tea," he said as he handed you an envelope, "this was in your mail by the way." 

You discarded your bloodied tissue and flipped over the envelope - you saw your family's crest in the seal. Panic washed through your veins, you had not had contact from your family in months. 

You ripped open the envelope, recognising the handwriting to be your mother's- she only put the family crest on envelops if it was something important. Your heart dropped. 

Wordlessly, you walked to your room, closing the door behind you. The letter contained what you had feared; your childhood friend Livvy had died three days ago - when this letter was sent. The tears spilled silently down your cheeks, you fell to your knees consumed by the feeling of emptiness. You could not sob, you could not scream, all you could do was let the tears fall silently. 

Time passed, you guessed it must have been a while, because you heard a knock on your door, "[Y/N], is everything alright?" Jacob softly asked from the other side of the door. 

Your tears had dried but you could not find your voice to answer, you just stayed there on the floor as you heard the door squeak open. 

His voice was soft but riddled with worry, "hey," he knelt down next to you, placing his firm hands on your shoulders, "what ever is the matter, darling?" 

Your voice was hoarse, "m-my best friend," you stammered before clearing your throat to start again, "my best friend Livvy fell ill many months ago, her funeral is tomorrow night at their Newcastle home." 

He rubbed your shoulders, "I am so sorry [Y/N], we'll get on the first train heading that way." 

You looked up at him, "oh no, Jacob, you don't have to come!" You sniffed. 

"After everything you have done for me, well it is the least I can do. Besides we're friends now right?" You nodded. "Well as your friend I do not want you to go through this alone." 

You held your hands out, "can you help me up?" 

"Of course," he stood up and took your hands in his, you made sure not to put all your weight on his arms because of his injuries. "Pack your bags, I will meet you at the central station in twenty minutes, yeah?" 

"Yeah," you sniffed again, stepping away from his grip, "thank you Jacob." 

He brushed a stray hair behind your ear but left shortly after - clear that you wanted space. You packed a small travel bag, mainly consisting of black clothing and a few weapons just in case. 

You nicked a carriage to the central station and you immediately spotted Jacob, who was without his top hat for once. He took your bag from you, holding both yours and his own - and held out his right arm for you to hook yours through which you do so immediately. 

"I managed to pull some strings with my friend Ned, though his train is not a carriage train but a cargo train," he said sheepishly. 

"Jacob that is more than acceptable, leaving now is the only way we could get to Newcastle on time - I care little about what train we are on." 

** 

You sat against the hay bales of a mostly empty carriage that luckily did have four walls and roof, Jacob had set up a makeshift fireplace in the centre, clear of any hay it could catch ablaze. Unconsciously, you had been staring into the flames for lord knows how long until Jacob came to sit next to you, leaning against the hay just as you were. "You know," he began, "I have never been to Newcastle - what is it like?" 

For the rest of the evening you told stories of your childhood, how you used to climb houses with your father when you were young and how your mother would scold you when you came home from venturing with Livvy with your face covered in soot. In turn, he told you stories of Crawley and how he used to get on Evie's nerves and disobey his father. It continued like that until you found your head drooping onto his - uninjured - shoulder and you fell fast asleep until sunrise. 

You awoke before Jacob did, his head lulled back against the hay bale and the fire long put out. Out the glass-less windows you saw endless green countryside, the air was so fresh you could hardly believe it - you had grown accustom to the London smog. Peeling yourself from Jacob, careful not to wake him, you stood up to stretch your legs and missed the warmth of his body immediately. You walked out the door and climbed onto the rooftop of your cart, sitting down and letting the wind blow through your long hair. The countryside was so tranquil, the only noise coming from the train itself - surprisingly the sun was out and the sky was blue, was it always that blue? London certainly never had skies so blue, it was either raining or pollution covered the skies. You tilted your face towards the sunrise, basking in it's warmth you stayed like that until you noticed the sun had risen substantially more, hours would have passed. 

Crawling to the edge of the roof, you hoped back down and saw Jacob leaning on the window frame of your cart. "It is lovely out here isn't it?" You asked him quietly as you sat back down by the hay. 

He hummed in agreement, "it is easy to forget what is outside of London - how clean it is out here." He walked over towards his bag, producing a mound of white cloth. Once he unraveled it you realised it was a loaf of German bread, "hungry?" He asked as he tore the loaf in half. 

You had forgotten all about food, you felt so hollowed out, "now that you mention yes I am." 

He handed you your half of the bread and he sat down next to you, as he did last night, "I figured as much," he said around a mouthful. 

That caused you to wrinkle your nose in disgust, "Jacob please do not talk with your mouth full. What are you five?" 

He lightly kicked your ankle in retaliation but said nothing. 

** 

It was late afternoon when you and Jacob approached your childhood home - it was a small white villa, you had insisted on carrying your own bag so you set it down on the porch as you knocked on the door. 

Your mother greeted you both, hugging you with all her might before ushering you inside. The house had not changed a bit - it was still as cold as ever. Mother hugged you again, "it is good to see you again [Y/N]," she then turned her attention to Jacob, "and who is this?" 

He extended his hand, which she shook, "Frye, Jacob Frye ma'am." 

"Son of Ethan Frye?" He nodded. She turned back to you, "Livvy would be most proud to see you chose to go back to the Assassin life - she never wanted that ordinary life for you, she would have followed you if her responsibilities did not lie here." 

"How was she - was she at peace?" You asked quietly. 

"Painless, in her sleep," she paused to squeeze your hand reassuringly, "now go put your things upstairs - we must leave soon." 

You nodded, reaching for your bag but Jacob had bet you to it, "lead the way," he gestured to the stair case. 

Huffing in defeat you lead the way to your old bedroom, a fine layer of dust covering everything. "I haven't been back in years," you said to no one in particular as you took in the familiar surroundings. 

Jacob looked at you, worried, "Jacob you look troubled?" 

"I am worried about you," he replied simply. 

You shrugged noncommittally, "I will be fine," you said in such a harsh ton that the subject was dropped. 

** 

Everyone else had left, Livvy's family finding it too hard to stay any longer, your mother too had gone home - you do not know how long you had been kneeling here beside the open grave, your best friend's casket lowered as the groundskeeper shoveled dirt on top. You took in a quivering breath, "Livvy am so sorry for not being here when you needed me most, I do hope your family took good care of you," you bit your lip to stop the tears from spilling over as you held the dirt tightly in your fist, "I will do you proud in the brotherhood - I will liberate London from the Templars and earn the title of Master Assassin, you always said I was capable of doing it" You slowly opened your palm, letting the dirt hit the casket. "Love you always and forever," you whispered. 

Your emptiness was now flooded by grief - you wiped your dirtied hand on the grass before you stood up to see Jacob was still standing to the side. The tears spilled over as you saw him, you could not hold your sorrow back any longer, with no hesitation you ran over to his welcoming arms, his firm arms wrapping around your frame. 

With one hand he cradled the back of your head as you cried into the crook of his neck, he just held you tight as you let your emotions take over. "It'll be alright," he murmured in your ear, his voice gentle and soft. 

You nodded since you could not say anything, you jut held onto him for as long as you needed. You stayed like that for what seemed like hours, Jacob was being ever so patient - he was being all the support you could ever need. At first you didn't want to be so vulnerable to him, but you've come to trust him, you trust him with your life - you would be there for him and he would be there for you. 

It was late and cold out, "Jacob we should go home," you muffled against his chest once your tears had ceased. 

"Yeah?" He asked. 

You sniffed, "yeah." 

He re-positioned you both so you were walking side by side, his arm wrapped around your shoulder and your arm wrapped around is waist - you hoped you weren't accidentally touching his wound but if you were he made no comment. Your house was the neighbouring house to Livvy's so the walk home was brisk. 

Once inside he pulled you in for a quick, tight hug, "I'll make us a cuppa - you get dressed for bed." 

You followed his instructions, dressing out of your black dress in exchange for your nightgown and robe. You saw your mother's door was open, so you tentatively walked in, "mother?" 

She was sitting on her bed, lost in thought, but your prompt made her look at you and opened her arms in response, "honey, time will heal all wounds, sometimes things just take longer than others." 

You hugged her back fiercely, "I know mother, she wouldn't want to see me wallow in grief." 

You pulled back and your mother put a hand on your right cheek, "you're right, she wouldn't." She brushed a stray tear from your cheek. 

Withdrawing completely you kissed her on the forehead, "goodnight mother." 

"Goodnight," she said in turn as you closed the door behind you. 

Holding an oil lamp you walked back down the stairs and joined Jacob in the kitchen, sitting on the window bay seat. Jacob came over with your tea cup, steam rising from it so you set your lamp on the floor by your feet. 

"Thank you," you said as you took your tea from him, he joined you on the other side of the window bay. "I mean it Frye - thank you for coming out all this way when you could be getting back into the swing of things instead." 

He looked at you, his expression nothing short of sincere, "I will always put you first - London can wait a little longer." 

You frowned at that, "Evie should be first you twat!" 

He chuckled, "I am sure she can hold her own." 

Taking a sip of your tea you grinned into your teacup, "I guess I cannot argue with that logic. But I can hold my own too." 

"Oh I know," he said. 

The tea had warmed you up but by the time it was to go to bed you felt cold again in this drafty house. Jacob was following you up the stairs, intending to stay in the spare room, when you stopped at the top of the stairs he almost ran into you. 

"Jacob," you bit your lip not sure how to ask. 

"..Yes?" There was no trace of teasing in his voice. 

"This is going to sound all very improper, but this house is too cold - would it be asking too much if you stayed with me for the night?" You looked down at your feet, not able to look at him in the eyes. 

Again, there was no teasing in his voice as he replied, "yes of course, love. Just let me get dressed first." He smiled weakly as he headed to the spare room to change. 

Throwing your robe on the chair you get under the blankets of your bed, sitting there for a moment lost in thought. The floorboards squeak under Jacob's feet, he sits behind you on the bed, resting his chin on your shoulder as he wraps his arms around you. 

"I do hope you are not stressing your wounds," you chide. 

"I had my stitches taken out a week ago I am fine," you could feel the warmth of his minty breath, "I am worried about you though, love. How are you?" 

You exhaled, "I do regret not visiting her when she fell ill - but she would want me living life to the fullest and not letting this grief take a hold of me," you held Jacob's hands that were wrapped around you, "besides, hugs help - being alone for three years was rather isolating." 

He hummed, sending vibrations down your spine, "I could imagine." 

You yawned, not to be rude you were honestly tired. 

Jacob retracted his body from yours and you immediately missed his warmth so you whined in protest. 

He chuckled lightly, "don't worry I was merely moving so we could actually get some sleep. You have had a long day." 

With that logic you couldn't argue so you lay down on your side and Jacob wrapped his body around yours - you fit well on the small bed - his arms held you tight. 

"Goodnight Jacob," you said as you yawned again. 

You were already so tired you couldn't be sure, but it felt like he kissed your hair as he said goodnight before you drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


	9. Bruises

You awoke suddenly in the early morning, the air was still crisp and cold and the sun was low, Jacob was still firmly pressed around you. The wave of grief and sorrow was going to hit you any moment, you didn't want to wake Jacob up so you tried to remove yourself from his hold, only for him to tighten his grip, "no, not yet," he said groggily.

Placing your hands over your eyes you put all your concentration to try not to cry, Jacob had already dealt with enough. But your grief was too much, a loud sob escaped your lips before you could stop it - your eyes brimmed over with tears. Goddamnit. 

"Hey, hey, don't feel like you can't cry because of me," his voice was very hoarse and quiet. 

You just shook your head, lips trembling. 

His grip on you loosened, you thought you'd scared him off, but in fact he did the opposite, he turned you around so you were facing him - his hand cupped your face, "I'm sorry sweetie." He said as he moved his hand to the back of your head, pulling you close so you could cry into his chest. 

You wrapped your arms tightly around him, just as tightly has he held you, the tears escaped freely. "It's okay darling, I'm here," he murmured into your hair. Darling, it was one of the new nicknames he called you - it made your heart leap in your chest, it made you feel wanted, needed even, and that was not something you had felt in a long time - if you weren't so sad you would smile at the thought. The two of you stayed like that until you cried yourself back to sleep. 

****

Jacob had insisted on walking you back to your house since it was late at night when you arrived back in London, "you sure you will be alright?" He asked as you unlocked the door. 

"Yes, time will heal all wounds - thank you for doing this for me," you replied. 

He pulled you in for a brief but comforting hug, "tomorrow I am meeting with Maxwell Roth, he sent me an invite while I was recovering, so I will be busy for the whole day most likely." 

You frowned, "be careful Jacob!" 

He smiled crookedly, "you sound like Evie! Speaking of, Evie was thinking that in two days time the three of us should free the children from that factory in the Strand." 

Ugh, that factory, how many times you had walked past it in your dresses, wanting nothing more to free them, "count me in." 

"I thought so. See you there at 4pm," he paused before adding, "goodnight, love. If you need anything stop by the train. I mean that." 

You hoped you weren't blushing, "goodnight, Jacob." 

The kettle had finished boiling, the whistling finally ceasing, but you felt fidgety, there was no way you could catch any sleep tonight - your mind was too loud. You had to let off some steam and you know just where to do it. Hastily, before you could change your mind, you put your Assassin coat back on and flung yourself out the front door, it was raining so you put your hood up. In a fast pace you walked for three or four blocks until you came to the alleyway you were seeking, a few people were crowding around outside under shelter as you looked for a particular door. You found it and no hesitation knocked loudly. 

"You a coppa?" A voice asked on the other side. 

Rolling your eyes you replied, "don't be daft let me in!" 

Your anger must have been worse than you feared, for the door was pulled open immediately. Inside was loud, people cheering, yelling out numbers, people throwing their money this way and that. Walking closer to the ring you saw two burly men fight each other in a rather unorthodox manner, scanning the room you saw Robert Topping. 

"Ah good day, are you going to save me from my boredom?" He asked as you approached. 

You flashed him a toothy grin, "why yes indeed." 

"Excellent, the separate changing rooms are through that door there." He pointed to a large door at the back. 

You nodded curtly, pushing past the crowds to get rid of your outwear in the changing room. Quickly you wrapped your hands and wrists in cloths and bandages - your heart was racing and you weren't sure if it was nerves or adrenaline. The last time you had been in a fighting match was three years ago, and you had only just recently converted back to the Assassin life so you might be a little rusty as Jacob would say. Ugh, Jacob would not approve of your actions, he would probably do the same thing mind you so you pushed him to the back of your mind. Your focus now was the anger and grief you felt, you wanted to beat it out on someone. 

Exiting the changing room you took a sharp intake of breath as you saw two men drag off the the unconscious body of the loser. Men died in these clubs on a regular basis, you were going to have to be on high alert. 

"Ready Miss?" Robert Topping appeared at your elbow, where from you did not know. 

Cracking your knuckles you nodded. 

He gestured for you to enter the ring, "ladies and gentlemen! We have a new contestant - keep in mind looks can be deceiving!" And then the bell rang; time to begin. 

Swiftly you dodge the man's attack and you hit him in the abdomen then elbowed him in the face, his body fell to the ground. So three more men entered the fray, flanking you. 

This time you hit first, hitting a man in the head with your own - stunning him - while you went after another one, sending his jaw to your knee then kicking him in the neck. Once he was down you had to dodge an attack from the third man, you kicked him in the back of the leg and threw him into the dazed man. 

You heard cheers all around. "Excellent! Shall we put your skills to the test with another round?" 

You gave the go ahead, so the bodies you left were carried off by men. Soon after you were met with four men in the ring, two regular blokes, a brute and an elite who wore suspenders. The elite came after you first - you ducked out of his blow which was sent into another man's face, giving him a bloody nose. You kneed the elite in the chest and went to break the brute's defenses and as a result stunned him. The two regular men both charged you, one with his bloody nose, you grabbed him by the arm and broke it and shoved him so hard into the other man that they flew out of the ring. Smirking to yourself you went after the elite again, running up behind him and landing on his back - you shoved his head to the ground with an audible crack. Distracted you did not see the brute come at you and his fist made contact with your left eye. It stung like a bitch, but this just further enraged you, you twisted away from his next attack and grabbed his swinging arm and pulled it behind his back which in effect dislocated it then you shoved him to the ground and stood on his neck. 

You won all seven rounds, earning a great deal of money, but honestly you could not wait to get home to take a bath and put a cold cloth over your now bruising eye. 

**** 

Standing across the road from the factory on a rooftop you waited for the twins to join you, your hood was pulled over to cover most of your face mainly because you know had a black eye and did not want Jacob to stress over it. 

In a matter of minutes you were joined by the twins, "hello love, did you have a good night?" Jacob asked as he crawled nearer to you. 

Shrugging you responded, "it was uneventful." 

Evie spoke up before Jacob could reply, "theoretically - if this was a solo mission how would you go about this, [Y/N]?" 

"I would start from the top, take out the snipers and work my way down each level - being quiet of course," you replied with no hesitation. 

Evie clapped her hands together once at that, "excellent - see Jacob I told you working from the top floor down is better." 

He mumbled something incoherent in response. 

Huffing Evie spoke as she looked out to the factory across, "there are three floors, Jacob you take the top if you want to prove yourself, [Y/N] will take the second floor and I will take the ground where the headmaster's office is - though [Y/N] beware there is an alarm bell on your level." 

You nodded, still pointedly not looking at either of them. Jacob seemed to have caught onto your avoidance, "Love, why do you already have your hood up, it isn't raining." 

"No harm in being ready," you snapped. 

He got closer to you, your tried to swat his hand away but he managed to pull your hood back. He gasped when he saw your bruise and instantaneously cupped your face and lifted your chin, looking for anymore injuries. "What happened? Who did this?" He demanded. 

Yanking his arms away you finally looked at him, only to see his face covered in concern, "no one did this." 

Jacob clearly didn't buy this, he grabbed your hands, ripping off your leather gloves and inspected them too, "your knuckles are slightly bruised." He went back to cupping your face, running a finger over your eyebrow where your bruise was. 

You hissed slightly at that, "I went to the fight club last night - it's not a big deal Jacob!" You snatched your gloves back and put them back on rather angrily. 

"Sorry," he murmured, "why did you do it?" 

"Why do you go to the fight club?" You sneered. 

"Boredom mostly," he said monotonously. "Why did you go?" He repeated. 

You looked away from his gaze, "I was mad and upset - I just wanted to let off a little steam." 

He hummed and let go of your face, "I should not have left you alone, I'm sorry." 

"Would you stop apologising!" 

"Sorry," he said again which made Evie laugh. 

You groaned in frustration, "let's just free these children - yeah?" 

"Yes, let's," said Evie and Jacob in union. 

** 

Between the three of you, you were able to do the whole operation in a few minutes - no alarm bells were triggered and no children were injured. Jacob proved he had recovered well and he stuck to stealth which pleased Evie. So here you were at the pub in the late evening, celebrating your victory, you had your hair down to cover the bruise on your face. Jacob brushed the hair out of your face, his finger lingering along your jawline as he retracted his hand, "I do trust you won all your rounds though?" He raised his eyebrows, eyeing you from the corner of his eyes as he drank from his pint. 

You scoffed, "of course I did, now I am richer for it." 

Evie clinked her pint with yours, "I'll drink to that," and she did - she downed her drink before Jacob did. "I would love to stay and chat, but I am off to deal with that damn Lucy Thorne." She spat the name out. 

Jacob raised his drink to her, "have fun out there." 

"Don't die!" Evie replied over her shoulder as she walked out. 

Frowning you asked, "what do you have planned for tonight?" 

"Well Maxwell Roth tried to kill children this morning so unsurprisingly he's hosting some play in my honour tonight at his theatre." He sat his pint down with a disgusted look on his face, "I have to assassinate him." 

"Suppose you don't need a hand in the matter?" 

He sighed, "doubtful but if you have no other plans tonight I wouldn't be opposed to having the extra help." 

"I told you not to trust him!" You flicked him in the head. "Please tell me I don't have to wear a dress." 

He chuckled, "no I would not worry about that - we'll steal some masks from some guards - just keep your hood up." 

You looked at the grandfather clock behind the bar, "when should we go?" 

Jacob drank the rest of his beer, "about now I would say." 

** 

There were two guards doing their rounds on the street, so you and Jacob crept up silently behind them and killed them with your hidden blades. You both took off their masks and wore them yourselves. 

"We should be able to sneak in undetected now - and through the front door nonetheless," he gestured towards the usher. 

"God, you better be right Frye," you muttered - which plastered a smile across his face. 

Turns out Jacob was right and you were able to walk in unnoticed, "darling there appears to be multiple Roth decoys - would you mind taking care of them?" 

You smirked, "already on it - we will reconvene outside the park." 

Everything was going well - you managed to slip poison into the decoys' drinks, killing them with them being none the wiser. You notice there was another decoy in the crowd on the ground floor, it would be too risky to throw a knife into his head as the ground floor was densely packed with theatre patrons. You slipped down onto the ground floor, the dense crowd enough to keep you blended in so you were able to sneak up to the last decoy and silently assassinate him. There was no sign of Jacob as Roth finally took his mask off, he was on the stage with two of his blighters. He was going on about some nonsense before his blighters lit the stage aflame. The whole audience turned into a frenzied panic and swarmed to get outside - you still couldn't find Jacob - and you were being pulled along with the crowd. _Jacob must have made it outside_ you told yourself as you yourself were being shoved out of the theatre, _he would have found a way._

Once out on the street you immediately scanned for Jacob, fear rising in you as you could not see him. You turned back to the theatre, flames were bursting out the windows but you had to find him. So you ran back to the main entrance, only to be greeted by flaming planks of wood inside the foyer blocking your path, - the whole building was falling apart. Smoke filled your lungs so you had no choice but to go back outside. 

You started hyperventilating as time stretched on, still no sign of Jacob. You had already lost so much - you could not lose him. The screams of the people on the street drowned out as you focused on the burning building, the empty feeling returning. 

It felt like hours had passed since you saw Roth standing there on the stage until this moment, but in reality it couldn't have been even two minutes. You saw a dark figured man running out of the building, collapsing to his knees as he coughed the smoke from his lungs. Relief washed through you as you recognised that tophat, you would recognise it anywhere. Without hesitation you rushed over to Jacob's side, "Jacob!" You lifted his head up and check him for any injuries, "Are you hurt?" 

He smiled crookedly at you, "love, I am fine." He stood up, pulling you up with him. "Are you hurt?" 

Before you answered you grabbed him tightly, hugging him, "I'm fine you git! You had me worried sick." 

He ran a hand through your loose hair, "I'm sorry, love." 

You pushed back from his chest to look at him and put your hands on his jaw once more, pulling him close - so close your noses touched, "I told you to stop saying sorry." 

"Sorr-" you cut him off as you closed the distance between you two, kissing him gently. With only a moments pause he reciprocated the kiss, cradling the back of your head with one had while the other firmly held your waist. The kiss deepened, it was slow and gentle - there was no need for urgency - you had almost lost him twice, you had no desire to rush these things. 

You pulled back a bit to gasp, you needed air, though your lips still ghosted on each other. "I forgive you for everything Jacob, stop apologising." 

He kissed you again - at first it was tentative, barely a kiss at all, but then he kissed you passionately, pulling you closer to him, so close you wrapped your arms around his neck to give him a better angle. The kiss was interrupted by a fire carriage arriving to the scene, its bells going. 

"Let's get you home," he said, smiling against your lips. 

You replicated that smile, "okay." Reluctantly you pulled apart, but he curled his arm around your waist as you headed to your home. 

**** 

"Jacob you are covered in ash and you smell of smoke!" You scolded after you shared another kiss in your kitchen, "go take a bath!" 

He raised one eyebrow, mischief in his eyes, "care to join me?" 

You changed the subject, "I will fetch you some clean clothes from the train, you better be in that bath when I come back!" You let go of him as you headed to the door, "oh I and I will be checking," you said as you winked at him. 

Luckily for you the train was in central station which was only a short carriage ride away so you were back to your house in no time. Without knocking you walked into the bathroom, Jacob's clothes (you also managed to grab his night ware) folded in your arms - you set them down with his discarded clothes. Jacob was in your giant bronze bathtub, smirking at you, "care to join me love?" 

It was your turn to surprise him, "yes." You said matter-of-factly. This got the reaction you expected, his eyebrows shot up in surprise, "unless you're having second thoughts," you added. 

He composed himself at that, "god no." 

"Well I am also smelling of smoke - so don't be expecting anything anything else, I do not want to rush into things," you warned as you shrugged out of your coat. 

Jacob hummed, "I can wait, love." You took off the rest of your clothes, and took notice in the way Jacob looked at you from head to toe in awe, "god you're gorgeous," he said as you approached the bathtub. 

You slid in behind him, "you're not too shabby yourself," you said as you grabbed a cloth to clean his back. Your hands traced over his new wounds, the scars were a pale pink, "I can't believe this is the second time I thought I lost you," you whispered. 

He turned around at that, causing the water to slosh around, "I would say I am sorry but I have been warned not to," he said as he leaned in close to your face. "But I will never leave you." 

"So the man has learned," you replied before you went in to kiss him. The kiss was pure passion, no lust behind it, his tongue pressed against your lips asking for entrance. You let your lips be pried open, his tongue languidly dancing with your own. Wrapping your arms around his shoulders you pulled him close, but not too close - you didn't want to tease him because you were serious when you said you wanted to take it slow. 

Neither of you realised it but you had been so encapsulated within each other you didn't notice the water go cold under you shivered, goosebumps rising on your skin. 

Jacob slowly pulled back, "I suppose it's time for bed." He stood up, pulling you up with him - his naked form was a thing of beauty, you had to admit. 

You both toweled off and dressed into your night clothes, Jacob pulled you in for another kissed as he hoisted you onto his hips - which made you squeal in delight. He made it to the bed without walking into anything, thank god. You both lay there, exchanging slow, warm kisses until you felt sleepy. 

Jacob pulled you against his chest as he had done that morning in Newcastle, "goodnight, love," he kissed you gently on your temple. 

"Goodnight Jacob," you kissed him on his collarbone in return and fell asleep in his secure arms - you didn't feel empty anymore.


	10. Furnace

The early morning sunlight slipped through a crack of your curtains and you awoke to the comforting sensation of being wrapped up in Jacob's arms. It was an odd feeling, you had been alone for so long you craved it. You let yourself indulge in it for another five or so minutes before you decided it was time to get up, you tried to squirm out from under Jacob's grip but he just held on tighter, a low rumble emitting from his throat.

"Jacob," you whined, "we have to get to that last stronghold today." 

Jacob nuzzled his nose into your hair, "keep them waiting," he mumbled groggily. 

"Oh come on it's the last stronghold in the Strand," you said impatiently. 

He kissed the crown of your head, "I know, I know - I just wanted to relish in these moments with my girl." 

_My girl._ That certainly made your heart skip a beat. "Alight five more minutes," you amended. 

He chuckled lowly, sending vibrations down your spine. 

"And I mean five minutes, Frye!" 

Five minutes turned into thirty and despite you wanting to be early to prowl the streets of London you did have to admit the serenity of just being curled up with the man who cared deeply about you, well it was more than you could have imagined. 

Quickly you threw the bed covers off as you twisted out of Jacob's grasp, "it's cold!" He yelled. 

"Oh toughen up," you said behind your dressing screen as you donned on your assassin gear. 

When you emerged from behind the screen, adjusting your gauntlet, you saw Jacob eyeing you from the bed, fully clothed. "When did you-" you looked around the room to see how he could have possibly snuck past you to the bathroom to gather his clothes. 

He lept of the bed, smirking at you, "I'll never tell my tricks of the trade." He then leaned in close for a kiss but you spun around at the last second, dodging from his advances to pin one of his arms behind his back. 

"Too bad we're in the same trade," you whispered as your lips pressed over his ear before lightly ghosting a kiss on the edge of his jaw. 

As soon as you let go of his arm he spun to face you, pressing your bodies flush together, "let's kill some blighters, yeah?" 

"Yeah," you breathed before pulling him down by his collar for a kiss. 

**** 

"Alight, so there heist plans should be in that building," Jacob pointed to the one directly across from you both, perched on a rooftop, "but they also have some captured rooks that need freeing... and I would prefer to kill the leader unnoticed." 

"So you go deal with burning those heist plans, the leader is the one who is guarding the captured rooks - I'll be able to knock that out with one stone," you said smugly. 

He rolled his eyes before flying his rope launcher off, you in turn did the same, to the building above the captured rooks where there was also one sniper. You hid behind a chimney and waiting for the sniper to turn around, once she did you ran up behind her, forcing her downwards to meet your blade. Peering over the edge you could see the leader taunting the rooks so you quickly jumped down, landing on them and stabbed their neck. 

"Oi!" Some blighter yelled as you freed the rooks. 

Six blighter men approached you and the rooks, "hello boys," you greeted. You darted the the nearest one, kicking the feet out from under him then stabbing him in the spine. As you dodged an oncoming attack you grabbed out your kukri and got to work. Needless to say you eliminated all remaining blighters in the vicinity. 

Wind rushes past you as Jacob lands next to you, "bloody hell," he said as he surveyed the bodies around you, "why'd you have to take all the fun - I only got to take out a few of them." 

"Maybe I'm not so rusty after all." 

One of his arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you close, "no you're bloody perfect," he said right before dipping you into a deep kiss. A few of the rooks were whistling and hooting but you tuned it out as you moved your lips against his, tasting of peppermint and English tea. 

"Ahem," you hear someone clear their throat behind you, causing Jacob to haul you up as your part in surprise, "am I interrupting?" Evie rhetorically answers. 

Jacob sighs, annoyed, "what do you want Evie?" He grits out her name so harshly you swat him in the arm, frowning. 

She sneers at him, "we have to head back to the train to figure out what to do next." 

He turns to you, about to speak, but you silence him by placing a finger over his mouth, "no you and Evie must sort out this whole Starrick thing, I will go to the gang war." 

"But-" he tried to interrupt. 

"I won't hear it - I'll swing by the train later tonight," and with that you launched yourself onto the nearest rooftop. 

The Strand gang war did not take long, in fact you found yourself agitated so you went to Whitechapel to take out some targets there and get some bounties for Abberline. Being busy all day had taken your thoughts away from your grief, which you were grateful for, but there were only so many strongholds left. It was getting dark so you decided to make your way to the train. 

** 

You landed on the metal roof of the train in a light thud, entering through Jacob's cart which was empty, frowning you went to Evie's and saw she was absent too, but Henry was sitting at her desk going through files. 

"Henry what did I miss?" 

He looked frustrated to say the lest, "well the twins are going to steal an invitation to the ball for tomorrow night, something the prime minster seemed happy about," he sighed heavily, "but the twins are not exactly seeing eye to eye - they claim this will be their last mission together." 

You could not help the small gasp that escaped your lips, "I knew they did not always agree but they are inseparable," you mimicked Henry's frustrated expression, "Jacob may not show it but he depends on his sister more than he lets on." 

"Well let's just hope they can stay focused on the mission," Henry amended. 

"Ugh, I'm off to find where that man has wondered off to - I will see you later Henry." Without giving him time to respond you bounded out of the train and onto the road below, landing on a carriage which you highjacked and made you way to your house. 

After running over many lightposts you eventually made your way to your house and launched your rope launcher to the rooftops. Once you clambered up you saw Jacob sitting there, looking out at London stretched out before him. 

"I wondered how long it would take for you to find me," he murmured as you sat next to him, resting your head on his shoulder. 

"Henry told me you and Evie no longer wish to work together." 

He scoffed, "she treats me like such a child!" 

"Jacob, I know she can be patronising at times but she has good intentions... and she is not entirely wrong," you mumbled the last part. 

He deflated, "I know and that is what is so frustrating." 

You let the comfortable silence stretch between you two for a while before you spoke again in a hushed voice, "you know considering how often I am on rooftops these days, I never did appreciate the beauty from above." Through the patches of cloud and smog you could see stars twinkling and the light glow of the Big Ben clock. 

Jacob hummed and wrapped an arm around your waist, "I'm learning to appreciate the small things now." He kissed you lightly on the neck. 

Before things could go further you stood up, "come on let's get the fireplace going, yeah?" You held your hands out to hoist him up. 

"Yeah," he said softly as he grabbed your hands. 

Quickly you both scaled down the side of the building and swung into a window you had left open especially for this kind of easy access, though you promptly closed it once Jacob swung in. In a matter of minutes Jacob had the fireplace going and was sitting on the floor in front of it on all your fur rugs and your cotton blankets. He was so transfixed on the fire you threw some pillows at him from the couch. 

"Uncalled for" he yelped at you, though there was no bark to his bite. 

You just hummed in response as you knelt in front of him, covering his face in quick pecks. This had him laughing, a gorgeous throaty sound you would never tired of hearing and you would do your damnedest to make him laugh as much as possible. Before you knew it he gently cupped your face and brought your lips to his for a slow and languid kiss. Maybe it was the fireplace, maybe it was pure lust, either way the kisses became heated, your bottom lip was getting swollen from Jacob nibbling and sucking on it. One of his hands cradled the back of your head whilst the other went to your waist, pushing you down onto the fur rugs and blankets. His mouth left yours to leave a trail of kisses down your jaw and neck, until he got to your collarbone when he started to bite lightly at your skin. 

The action made you gasp, "screw taking it slow" you said. 

You felt his lips form a toothy smile on your skin before he pulled up to look you in the eyes, "really?" He asked with a cocky eyebrow raised. 

Grabbing him by the collar you gave him a heated and passionate kiss, though brief it got that un-focused look in Jacob's eye when you pulled away, "yes - it's rude to keep a girl waiting." 

He smiled his signature half smile at you, "my girl will get as she desires." The lower his kisses got, the more clothes were shed until there were none. 

** 

Later that night, after you had cleaned up then shared slow and un-rushed kisses with Jacob in the bathtub, you both decided to sleep in front of the dim fireplace, you were nestled into his strong grip once more. 

The moonlight shone through the window, you could see his pupils were still huge as he gazed at you. 

You traced a finger along his jawline, "what?" You asked with a smile on your face. 

He hummed, "just wondering how I got so lucky." 

"You are a real sap you know that?" You teased as you fiddled with his coin necklace, you did not realise it would swing so much in recent activities. 

He rolled his eyes but placed a quick kiss on your lips, resting his forehead against yours, "I love you [Y/N]." 

Your heart skipped a beat, "I love you too, Jacob." _I've died and gone to heaven_ you thought as you tightly held onto the man you loved so dearly.


	11. Underground

The train station was swarmed with busy Londoners, the densely populated sea of people would have made you felt claustrophobic once upon a time but since moving to the biggest city the westerns know you got used to it. There were three Templars on the same walking platform you were on, high off the ground, avoiding the crowds of people. Two were snipers keeping their eyes on people who passed them on the staircases they guarded, and a plethora of men in blue police uniforms on the platforms below, you were at the right place. Jacob and you had split up once you reached the Gladstone residence, he was out pinching Mr. Gladstone's ball invitation for tonight and you were here to pinch the Miss'. You decided it best to remain undetected so you slipped over the railing behind you and landed on the ground, sound of impact drowned out by the people.

Mrs. Gladstone was in the centre platform but she was heavily surrounded by policemen - policemen who you could not justify to murder, besides you had to keep this whole operation clean. Hopefully Jacob would remember that. You lept down onto the train tracks on the leftmost side, crouching so you were hidden from view, though the idle train did a fine job of keeping you covered. Between two train carts you peered over to see Mrs. Gladstone sitting on a bench with her back to you. Quietly you clambered onto the train, hiding behind one of its walls as a police officer passed you. Using your vision you saw all policemen were now standing either too far away or with their backs to Mrs. Gladstone, keeping watch. If only they knew to watch their backs. Slipping out from between the two train carts you sat on the bench opposite Mrs. Gladstone, quickly you glanced to see the officers were still looking away. Once in the clear you leaned over and pick-pocketed the invitation and slipped out through the train once more. You were able to leave the train station without being detected in the crowds of people. 

A sleek carriage was guarded by a single police man and before you could second guess yourself you decided if there's going to be a fancy ball tonight the twins might as well arrive in style. You harshly yanked the officer out of the driver's seat and took the reins yourself, as you were about to read over the invitation you hear a light thud on the carriage roof behind you. 

"I do hope you were discrete, Jacob," you said as he sat next to you. 

He plucked the invitation from your hands, "eyes on the road, love." You rolled your eyes but snapped on the reins. Jacob hummed disapprovingly next to you, "no weapons permitted at the ball tonight... Freddy will know what to do about that." So you carefully wove through the streets, not going as fast as you were accustomed to because you did not want to damage the carriage. Jacob lightly pressed his hand on your arm, "stop here," he directed to an alleyway and you did as asked despite being confused. Jacob hoped down and decided to approach some man sweeping, he seemed familiar. 

You hoped down too, going around the carriage to check for any damage, glad to see upon inspection that there were none. 

"Ask all you want Freddy, you'll never get an answer," Jacob outstretched his hands. 

Abberline, of course you should have guessed. Jacob and Frederick devised a plan that required "borrowing" a royal guard uniform, this you were sure Jacob could manage fine on his own accord so you left him to it. 

**** 

You hoped down to the ground noiselessly, "Evie Frye," she spun as you said her name, "never thought I would witness the day you wear a dress." 

She exhaled loudly, crossing her arms, "I feel so restricted in this - lord know how you survived for three years." Her tone was rather curt and unwelcoming so you decided to remain silent. 

In a few more minutes of tense silence a carriage pulled up, the one you had pinched earlier, you smiled at its arrival. 

"Of course he'd arrive in that," Evie muttered distastefully. 

You frowned at that, you knew she was mad at her brother, and rightfully so, but what was Evie expecting? Jacob and Abberline stepped out, Abberline's uniform was pristine which meant Jacob was successful in his mission. Jacob was dressed in his very best, and without his foolish tophat - making him look even more handsome. "Hand him your weapons, we are to go unarmed." He told Evie as he gestured to Abberline. 

Evie said nothing but pointed to the bag beside her and hopped into the carriage without a word. What an uncomfortable carriage ride it was going to be, you thought. Jacob sighed heavily and he looked downright miserable. 

"Jacob," you said softly. 

He spun around to face you, "I did not see you there in the shadows." His voice was not as cheerful as it usually was. 

Without a word you quickly rushed up to him to hug him tightly, "good luck for tonight." 

You could hear Evie clearing her throat, impatient. In turn, Jacob pulled back only to capture your mouth in a deep kiss as he cradled your head. The sensation warmed you down to your toes and made your chest swell with joy. All too soon he pulled away, his lips ghosting against yours as he spoke, "I will see you later tonight, love," and with that he stepped into the carriage, leaving you and Abberline behind in the darkness. 

"And what are your plans for this evening?" Abberline inquired. 

You flattened out your jacket, "I am to be working with Mr. Green and keep watch of Buckingham's perimeter, as much as the royal guards are loyal to the queen we cannot alone trust them with the Templars alone." 

He hummed in response, "I do hope you Assassins know what you're doing." 

You huffed out a slight laugh, "oh ye of little faith," you replied. "Goodnight Mr. Abberline." 

"Goodnight, Miss. [L/N]." You two parted ways, you launching onto the rooftops to meet with Henry at his shop. 

**** 

Crawford Starrick had disappeared from your line of sight, Evie had knocked him down then the next thing you knew he vanished in the crowds. 'God I hope Henry saw where he went,' you muttered under your breath, Henry was patrolling the far side of the courts, where the small lakes were. There had been little Templar activity for the two of you which had put you on edge, what was Starrick's game here? Though it did not escape your vision when you saw Jacob take out the snipers, speaking of the devil, where the hell did he go? Where did Evie go? You should not have gotten distracted in your thoughts, damnit. 

Before you could panic any further a firm hand rested on your right shoulder which you instinctively moved away from, brandishing your cane sword and kukri. 

Henry stood there alarmed with his hands up in surrender, "easy," he said. You calmed down and composed yourself. "Starrick has found his way to the vault, Jacob has headed there now and Evie is ridding her dress, Templars are crawling all over the lakes." 

There was a very loud explosion by the lakes, fire and smoke bursting through the skies. "We better get over there." The both of you sprinted your way over, having to swim through the freezing waters to get the the source of the explosion. It was a small island, for lack of a better word, that was riddled with templars, all inspecting an exposed concrete slab that was used to hide steps. 

"We have to hold them off!" You ordered to Henry, who nodded in agreement. 

Without hesitation you crept up to the nearest Templar, pulling his feet out from under him and stabbing him in the head with your hidden blade. "We have intruders!" Some Templar yelled. 

"We cannot let them into the vault!" Henry said before dodging an attack from a woman. 

A man swung his arm at you, only for you to grab it before it could connect with your face so you pulled harshly at it and bent it with enough force at the elbow that you heard it break with a sickening snap, "agreed!" You yelled as you kicked the screaming man in the face. 

Henry did his best to just stick to the shadows, going after the blighters whilst you went after the higher ranking Templars in their black and red uniforms. 

"[Y/N]? ...Henry?!" You heard Evie ask but you could not see her as you were too busy fighting. 

"Evie, Jacob is-" you swung to slam your cane into a man's head, "-in the vault!" You slashed your kukri at an oncoming woman, "go help-" you stabbed her upwards through her chin, "-him kill Starrick!" You yelled. 

"Evie we can handle this - help Jacob!" Henry said, just loud enough above the noise for you to hear. 

You could not hear Evie's response, whether or not she gave one, but you heard no protests so you just had to assumed she had listened. 

A scrawny looking man pulled out a pathetic looking pocket knife so you did the mistake of paying him no mind, he manged to creep up on you as you strangled a brute with the shaft of your cane, the man swung randomly at your face - making contact with the skin on your right cheek. You dropped your cane, the brute following suit - still breathing - so you stood on the back of his neck, causing his body to crumple in on itself. Pulling out your kukri once more you advanced on the scrawny man, he fell over backwards in his hasty retreat so all you did was stab him square in the chest. Unsurprisingly when you went to wipe your cheek with the back of your hand it was covered in warm and wet blood, making you angrier. You lashed your anger out until you noticed the about of blighters and Templars and thinned out a bit, but not enough to deem them harmless enough to go help out the twins. 

Too long a time had passed since Evie was here, this should not be taking them this long. "Henry!" You screamed over the noise as you kicked a man into the water, "go! This is taking much too long - the twins need-" you dodged an attack, "your help!" You punched the attacker in the throat, winding them before you stabbed them in the side. 

Henry was looking worse for wear, working more on the defense than the offence, "no I cannot leave you alone!" 

"Yes you can and you will! London needs you, the twins need you!" You kicked a woman straight in the ribs before stabbing her in the ear, "GO!" You snarled at Henry. 

He finally listened to you, using a smoke bomb to slip away into the vault, leaving you to deal with god knows how many blighters and Templars. Your bones were aching, you wanted to give up but you could not - you just had to keep pushing yourself until every last one of them was dead, or you'd have to die trying. You stabbed the next oncomer in the chest, using your lodged kukri to flip his body over your shoulder and into another Templar. 

**Jacob's POV** 

Jacob placed the Shroud back into its place, smiling fondly at his sister and Greenie. Starrick was finally defeated and London was to be liberated from the Templars once and for all, and he did it alongside his sister. Being able to make amends with his sister meant more than finally putting an end to Starrick's rule, he could not, would not, lose his sister, because despite their difference she was all he had left... Evie and [Y/N]. 

Jacob was pulled out of his thoughts by the yelling of a strange man, all three turned around the entrance of the vault to see a bloodied lone Templar standing there, his Templar mark standing out on his left arm. "You goddamn Assassins!" The man yelled. 

"Oh no, [Y/N]," Jacob heard Henry murmur quietly. 

His jaw clenched, eyes not leaving the sight of the Templar, "what do you mean 'on no, [Y/N]'?" Jacob spat out. 

It was Evie who spoke up, "her and Henry were fighting off a large hoard of Templars, she must have still been fighting them off when Henry came to assist us against Starrick." 

Anger flooded through Jacob, making his blood boil and without thinking he ran up to the Templar, taking his kukri out as he ran and spared no energy to stab the man through his eyes. Jacob scrambled to his feet, ears tuning out the pleas of his sister, he just ran - tripping over as he hurried to get outside. It proved much harder to exist the vault as it was to get in, the broken and worn down stairs kept crumbling away under Jacob's hands and feet, but he pushed forward, covering his uncovered palm in cuts and scraps but he could not find it in himself to care. He had felt so victorious seeing Starrick bleed out in front of him - after over a century Jacob and Evie put a stop to the Templars in London - but now it all seemed for nought. He felt at a loss, empty and defeated. 

After what seemed like far too long Jacob finally made his way to the exit and was immediately greeted by the sight of dead blighters and Templars everywhere, it was a bloody massacre. There had to be dozens and dozens of corpses littering the area. He panicked as he saw no sign of [Y/N], but he held onto the small sense of relief that he did not recognise her face among the dead. "[Y/N]!" He screamed, ducking under the leaves of the willow trees, their leaves swung in the eerie breeze - no other sound could be heard. Jacob was starting to panic with the lack of response from his love - the island was so small there would be no way she could not hear his screams. He screamed her name again, ears straining to hear any form of response. 

Very, very faintly he could have sworn he heard his name to his right, he wasted no time investigating the bodies there. He saw a familiar silhouette sitting down, preoccupied with something on their left arm, Jacob approached slower, hesitant. "[Y/N]?" he questioned again softly. 

The woman spun around, flashing a weak grin at him, "did you kill Starrick?" She asked lightly, standing up. 

Relief washed through Jacob as he saw her face, he ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her, one hand around her middle while the other wrapped around her shoulder to hold the back of her head, "a Templar got to the vault and I thought you dead." He confessed in a hushed tone. "Oh darling," his voice choked on those last two words. 

"Can't get rid of me that easily, Frye." She teased, or at least tried to, her voice was muffled from his chest. 

It was too much for the both of them, Jacob had gone through the motions and [Y/N] was goddamn tired, so they both fell down to their knees, Jacob still held her tight, on the verge of sobbing. He kissed the top of her head, "god I love you so much," his voice cracked on the last word, "please don't scare me like that." He kissed both her cheeks for good measure. 

She sniffled, "welcome to my world." She said in a dry humour, it was enough to get a small huff from Jacob though. Her face was still pressed into his chest, so her next words were rather muffled but to Jacob it sounded clear as day, "I love you too." They stayed like that for the next ten or so minutes, hearing Evie and Henry emerge but they kept their distance to give privacy. 

Jacob pulled back slightly, to look at his love's face, it was bloodied and cut, "are you okay, are you hurt anywhere else?" His voice was suddenly filled with panic again. 

She delicately placed her hand on the side of his face, thumbing over the scar in his stubble with one thumb, "shh - I am fine, truly, this was the only injury I sustained I promise. All I am is bone weary, a good nights sleep will cure it." She kissed him on the nose lightly, "stop worrying you oaf." 

He laughed as he pulled her in for a kiss, he felt her smiling widely against his own mouth which made his heart stutter.


	12. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't like the original epilogue as it was too short and not fleshed out enough. So have this longer epilogue instead.

**A FEW SHORT YEARS LATER**  


Today was a clear day with the sun shinning on the through the windows of the central train station, bustling with life as you take in your surroundings. Jacob had been awfully quiet the past few days, spending almost every second he could with his sister Evie. It was bittersweet, he was trying to make the most of having her here until today. Jacob was standing at the edge of the platform, lost in thought looking out at the sleek train in front of him. He wanted to be here early, so early in fact Evie and Henry were not here yet, but you did not mind. Slowly you walked up to him and laced your fingers with his, standing side by side.

"It feels all too surreal, sickening even, like a bad dream," Jacob muttered. 

"I know darling." You rested your head against his shoulder, "I know." 

Jacob sighed heavily but remained silent and it made your heart break. 

"Jacob Frye," you heard Evie's voice trailing from behind, prompting you both to turn around, "never thought I would see the day my little brother is earlier than me." Her voice was teasing but her face showed little humour, she was mirroring Jacob's sad expression. 

For once Jacob did not fling a witty comeback at her, he slipped his hand out of yours to help Henry move the luggage on board. 

Evie's face dropped even more, "I wish it was not this hard." She said to you, biting her lip to stop it from quivering. 

"Are you sure about this?" You questioned. 

Evie sighed and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms, "god no, but Henry has been away from home for far too long I cannot ask him to stay here any longer." 

You hummed, understanding, "and yet you are leaving _your_ home country. Perhaps permanently." You should be saying words of comfort, that it would get easier, but you wanted to know she was sure about this - India is a whole different culture, it's a place where Evie will have no other family, heck even the Brotherhood there will have different methods she will not be used to. 

"I do not know about permanency just yet - but I love Henry and I will do what I can to make him happy," she smiled slightly, "besides I'll finally learn methods of the Assassins without the words of my father." 

You smiled back at her, "yes when Jacob and I visit I will be very eager to learn some new tricks," your smile faded, "speak of the devil." You pointedly looked over Evie's shoulder to see Jacob approaching and he was uncharacteristically hesitant. 

Evie whipped around to face her brother - they stood a few feet apart, "I do hope you won't spend the entire month sea sick." Jacob said. 

Evie huffed, "as do I, brother." 

They exchanged nothing but somber glances for a moment before Evie grabbed her brother for a tight hug, Jacob nestled his face into the crook of her neck. You turned away to give them some much needed privacy and they hugged for a substantially long time, mumbling goodbyes and memories past. Eventually Evie pulled back to give Jacob a kiss on the cheek, "please remember to write." 

Jacob scoffed, "oh don't you worry dearest sister." 

Evie turned to give you a hug goodbye, "please keep him in check," she teased which made Jacob roll his eyes. Henry shook both of your hands before boarding the train. 

"I suppose this is it, Jacob," Evie said as she stood in front of her brother. 

He pulled her in for one last and brief hug, "we will come visit India in a few years. I swear it." Jacob let go of her to kiss her on her forehead. 

"I will hold you to those words," she said as she started to pull away, boarding the train. 

The train tugged away, Evie and Henry waving goodbye until they were no longer in sight. Jacob was at the very edge of the platform again - looking out at the other carts on the train that marked the growing distance between him and his other half. 

"I cannot believe she's gone," he said in a whisper. 

You had been standing quietly behind him but hearing the defeat in his voice prompted you to wrap him up into a hug, "you will see her again." 

He held onto you so tight, you almost struggled to breathe but you let him cling onto with such fierceness. You were all he had now and you would do everything in your power to help him through this. 

You were unsure of how much time had passed with the two of you standing in the central train station, but Jacob evidently withdrew from you, only to slip his hand into yours which you squeezed reassuringly. "I don't want to be here anymore" he said very quietly, so quiet you almost missed it. 

"Okay baby, let's go," you had to pull him along through the crowd and it was clear he was on auto pilot so you would have to be making the decisions today. You had to get his mind off of things. As you were exiting the station you remembered something, "god, do you remember that friend of Charlie and Charlie you had to pick up?" You had picked up Jacob's nicknames for your friends, much to Evie's dismay, but every time you used a nickname of Jacob's you always saw him try hide a proud smile. 

Jacob's mouth twitched at the mention of the memory, "blood hell he was an odd fella, having me-" he paused to make air quotation marks with his free hand- "quote un-quote _kidnap_ his fiance then fake his death. **Then** -" more air quotation marks "- _save_ her from me, yet as odd as he was she did not question why he was suddenly alive again." He shrugged, "guess they were made for each other." You both laughed lightly at that.

You thought about challenging him to a race to the top of Big Ben, he would never back down from a challenge even now, but it would leave him alone with his thoughts. That was something you wanted to avoid today. Both of you had fully exited the station now, there was a small park - if you could even call it that it was more like a patch of grass with a footpath in it - with a small gazebo of musicians playing a delightful tune. "You know we have never had an ordinary day here in London, and we've been living here for almost three years together." Although the city was liberated there was still crime or official Assassin business to take care of - there was always something to be done.

Jacob raised an eyebrow in interest, "I'm listening." 

"Court me proper, show me what a gentleman in London does when he's not busy working hard." You pouted when you saw he still held a quizzical look.

"Hmm well 'tis a shame the Alhambra theatre is close, I could have taken my lovely girl out for a cultured evening," he teased. 

Slyly smiling you reply, "I hear the owner was a bit of a dick, emphasis on the past tense... the plays were probably mediocre at best." 

Jacob huffed, "well I cannot have my girl getting anything of mediocrity now can I?" 

You smiled, "of course not - I'd expect nothing but the best from you," you pulled him into a chaste kiss, "but I would not mind having a look through the central markets." 

He rolled his eyes, "on the condition I can get other tophat." 

You rolled your eyes at that, "no surprises there." 

The walk from the central train station to the central markets was a short one, you and Jacob talked about memories of Charlie's Ghost Club - _that goddamn elusive Spring Heeled Jack._ Though of course no walk, no matter how brisk, was rarely a peaceful one when in the centre of London. Though of course the Templar hold of London had been destroyed and the Brotherhood had claimed their territory, there were always the stragglers - the few remaining stubborn Blighters who refused to turn over a new leaf. The both of you were just around the corner from the markets before the unmistakable shade of red was seen, "a rare sight these days," Jacob said to you, "you think they would be stupid enough to try it?" 

You look over to the two Blighters in question, they had just noticed you two and immediately sneered at you both, "yes, I do think they're moronic enough," you said with a sigh. 

Sure enough the two Blighters, a brute and an elite, branded their weapons of choice as they stalked across the road to you two. "Been awhile since I've had a good brawl outside of a fight club." Jacob said with a smirk. 

"Oh there's an idea; we could stop by the Westminster fight club-" the elite took a swing at you which you dodged so easily it should be considered an insult, "-I haven't been there in a while." You got your kurki out and blocked the Blighter's next swing with you weapon before using your momentum to throw him off balance. 

You looked over to see Jacob disarming the brute, "fight club? You can always count me in for that, love." The Blighter's meat cleaver clanked to the ground, leaving Jacob with a defenseless enemy. 

You returned your attention to the elite as he tried to hit you from the side, you grabbed his swinging arm and pulled him towards you and headbutted him, thus stunning him. You then lodged the kurki into his sternum and with all your strength grabbed ahold of the kurki hilt and flipped him over your shoulder and onto the ground. Dead. Turning around you saw that the brute was also lying on the cobblestones with blood seeping through his clothes. "That was too easy," Jacob said as he wiped away the blood from his kurki with a handkerchief. 

You did the same with your bloodied kurki before sheathing it in your coat once more, "yes well they are not as strong as they used to be." 

Jacob held out his arm and you linked yours through without hesitation, with his other he gestured to the markets around the corner, "I believe the markets await my fair lady." 

You repressed the urge to roll you eyes, "indeed they do good sir," you said with a smug smile on your face, only causing Jacob to smile in turn. 

Once Jacob had gotten ahold of yet another folding tophat he asked where you wanted to go next. 

You were sitting on a high brick wall, Jacob was leaning against it below you putting away his old tophat in his coat in exchange for his new one. Chewing on an apple you had purchased you stewed on thought for what to do next, "well I am still keen to go to the fight club - but I would also like to try the ice cream in St. James Park in Westminster. I also hear they have locals playing cricket and more gazebos of music." 

To your surprised Jacob actually smiled at this, "you know that does sound lovely." You gave him a look. "Truly, we do not take enough time in our lives to appreciate what we have, and I want to appreciate my youth with you." 

You hopped down from the wall to look at him properly, "you know after all these years together you still manage to surprised me." Discarding the apple core you could not stop smiling as you pull him by the lapels of his coat into a kiss, well as much as a kiss as you could get when both idiots were smiling widely. 

The walk to Westminster from central London was a long one so you got an escort from a Rook carriage. It is amazing to think of how far Jacob and his Rooks have come, how much better the city is because of it. You said as much to Jacob in the carriage as you caressed his knee next to yours. He would be lying if he said your words didn't bring a blush to his cheeks, he merely kissed you passionately in response.

With all the kissing you both did within the carriage the ride to St. James park was a quick one, the carriage jolting to a stop forcing you and Jacob to dis-tangle yourselves from one another. The Rook who was driving was kind enough to hold the door open for both of you, even lending you a hand to help you out like a true gentleman. The small act of kindness made you smile brightly. 

"Right love, point me to the ice cream, I want to see what all the fuss is about," Jacob said as he held his arm out for you. 

Snaking your arm in his once again you directed him to where you knew an ice cream booth would be, next to a gazebo of musicians no doubt. There was of course vanilla and a small selection of fruit flavours to choose from. Jacob went with the raspberry whilst you went with the lemon one. Jacob hummed in approval, "I imagine if London was in a warmer climate this would be more sought out, how's yours love?" 

You struggled to hide the pucker of your lips, "refreshing, albeit sour." 

The two of you headed off to a cricket match, but by the time you had both finished off your ice creams you came to the realisation that cricket was dreadfully boring, Jacob leaned into your ear to quietly ask "do you think they're _actually_ enjoying themselves?" 

You sniggered, "no I think they're being paid by some madman! Who would waste such time with such a repetitive game?!" _An hyperbole no doubt, but honestly what a waste of time._

"Right, well the sun will set soon, shall we head to the fight club?" Jacob asked. 

You nodded your head in response, "dear Lord, yes, enough of this cricket nonsense." 

**** 

The fight club was a good distraction from the earlier events of today, Jacob and yourself won every round of your own. But when it was time to go against each other each round had to end in a draw, though that did not surprise either of you. To celebrate your earnings you went to both yours and Jacob's favourite pub in the Strand, it was close to where you two lived in the Strand (the train only used when on the other side of London) and had friendly regulars. After some decent pub food you and Jacob might have gotten a little tipsy on too many pints of beer, even finding yourselves tipsy enough to dance along with the rest of the pub patrons, something both of you would normally shy from doing. But it was fun, you didn't care. The walk home had been sobering, the night air was cold enough to cut through the multiple layers of clothing and the moon was full and shining bright. 

After a relaxing bath and a cup of hot tea it was soon enough time for bed, you had managed to keep Jacob occupied for the whole day. 

You were mere minutes from falling into a deep sleep before you felt the body behind you quiver sporadically. You turned to face Jacob, hands seeking out his face. You heard him whimper quietly and you found a wetness to his cheeks, but he was trying to hold it back. "Honey, darling, don't hide from me," you said to him in a hushed voice. His arms finally wrapped around you like a tight vice and he let a wretched sob out, it hurt your heart to hear him this way, but you would not shush him - he needed to let it out. You moved one hand to stroke through his hair, he always liked it when you played with his hair, he said once that it was soothing. When a particular sob and wracked his whole body you had to hold back tears of your own, instead opting to kiss him softly on the forehead then you cradled his head to your chest. When he had caught his breath he mumbled something too intelligible for you to decipher, "what was that sweetheart?" You asked him quietly. 

He pulled back from your chest just enough so his voice would not be muffled, "it sounds ridiculous but..." he bit his lip not knowing how to continue. You just kissed him again on the forehead for encouragement. "You wouldn't leave me... would you?" He asked tentatively. 

His question had you take in a sharp intake of breath before you came to your senses and clinged onto him as tight as you could, " **never**. I could _never_ leave you Jacob." You sniffled causing Jacob to put his head back into your chest, "I love you too much... I _couldn't_ leave you even if I wanted." 

Jacob pulled away at this, but not far, just enough to see your face. He brushed the hair out of your face as you looked up at him, "god I love you so much," he barely whispered, "I don't think I would be able to let you go either," he said with a sad smile. You reached up to brush away more tears from his cheeks and pulled him down for a sombre kiss. "I love you darling," he said against your lips when he pulled back. 

Sometime within the dark you both drifted off to sleep in each other's tight embrace. 

**** 

A week had past since Evie's departure from London, the first few days were your busiest you'd had in a while, but Jacob was getting more used to the idea that his sister was gone and he could not keep his mind occupied every second of the day. Still, you knew it was hard, harder than you could imagine as twins have a special bond that you just will never understand. You did challenge Jacob to a race to the top of Big Ben, you were waiting to hear him arrive any second now - whenever the two of you raced somewhere there would only be mere minutes of difference between arrivals. But more time had ticked on, the sun would start to set soon if the pinkening in the sky was any indication. Frowning, you were starting to get worried - though as Jacob would say catastrophising the situation would not improve it by any means. _Maybe he jammed his rope launcher again and has to scale up Big Ben the old fashioned way_ you thought. Hearing the giant clock tick by for a couple more minutes you heard the tell-tale sound of a rope launched connecting to the building. Huffing out a breath of relief you realised you were worrying for nothing. Eventually you watched Jacob climb over the railing, "low and behold he finally arrives - what on earth took you so long?" So maybe your voice was a little smug, what about it? 

Jacob didn't approach you immediately, in fact he seemed as if he was lost, "I've been lost in thought today." He said as he looked out onto the city below you both. 

"Well that is bloody ominous of you," you retorted. 

"Did I worry you?" He teased, eyebrow raised. 

You scoffed, "okay so maybe you worried me a _little_ but that does not change the fact I won, again." You added smugly. 

He did not throw a witty or sarcastic remark back at you, which was uncharacteristic. You tentatively joined his side, firmly placing a hand over his that was on the railing. "So, what is on your mind Jacob?" You asked with complete sincerity. 

He huffed and looked out onto the city once more, "a lot of things... but this one has been in my head for years now." 

"Stop saying such vague things or I'll start to worry again!" You scolded. 

He pulled his hand away from yours only to place both hands on your biceps, he didn't make eye contact with you immediately, but when he did it was the most piercing gaze you had ever seen from him, "I am not one to go overboard on the romance, but I have to ask you before I crack from internal combustion... [Y/N] will you marry me?" 

Stunned at his words it took you a moment to comprehend what he just said. Subconsciously you flung your arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss, one he returned after the shock wore off. The kiss was pure passion and nothing more, no heat to it, just love. It was a nice kiss but Jacob pulled away after a minute or two, "as much as I love kissing you, that's not a definitive answer, love." 

"Yes! Yes I will marry you, you oaf!" You quickly kissed him again, "I would love to be your wife, Sir Jacob Frye." 

"...My wife," he muttered under his breath mostly to himself. 

"Yes, and you will be my husband," you said the last word with great emphasis. 

He perked up at that, a wicked smile ghosting his lips, "say that again," he said imperatively. 

" _My_ husband," you said against his lips before closing the gap once more. During the kisses you felt his hand seek out your left one, you pulled back in time to see him place an oval shaped opal ring on your wedding finger. The opal reflected various colours in the setting sun. "Jacob it's gorgeous," you breathed. 

He smiled in return, "nothing but the best for my girl." You kissed him once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact; although they did have diamond rings in the 19th century it wasn't until the 1930's (ish) that diamond engagement rings came into fashion (all for one jewelry company with a very good marketing scheme).
> 
>  
> 
> [Here's the ring](https://images.britcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Opal-and-Diamond-Engagement-Ring-645x429.jpg)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much if you leave kudos/comments! The more kudos I get the more encouraged I am to write more content and I have quite a few fics in mind... Apologies again for any typos.


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